The Battle Isn't Over
by I'm the Monster in Your Head
Summary: Crona finishes off the fight on the moon with the Kishin and returns to Shibusen to find his love interest once more. The Black Mass has escaped the Book of Eibon and wants revenge on the DWMA and fuels black blood within the Spartoi. CroMa SoJa Rated M for Violence and stuff and LEMONS! MANGA UNIVERSE, SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ IT!
1. The Dark Side of the Moon Illuminates

Everything was perfectly normal that day. Nothing could be off. Nothing could be wrong. Maka had made her partner, Soul, a Death Scythe and she defeated the Kishin, losing Crona in the process. She missed him so much, even though it had only been six months since the battle on the moon. The moon was still a sphere of the dark embodiment of madness, a mass of darkness. She wondered what was happening up there. She just wanted Crona back so much, to hold him in her arms once more. To wrap her arms around him and assure him everything would be okay.

What she didn't know was the battle still raging on the moon, which was coming to an end.

* * *

Everyone must think he's dead. Crona kept thinking this as he fought the damned Kishin, Asura. His pink hair was a mess, his robe, a tattered cloth hanging off of him. Again, for the millionth time, Maka's beautiful and angelic face swept through his mind like a breath of fresh air, this time more violently. He **WAS **going to win for her.

He was going to end this, right now. After a long six months of constant battling and sleep deprivation, lack of food and drink, and constant blows to his body, his black blood and Maka's smile in his mind were sustaining his life force. He was going to end it. This battle against the Kishin. Against the embodiment of madness itself.

He charged the god of Madness head on, leaping over craters and debris left from the battle.

"**DIE, YOU KISHIN BASTARD!" **He screeched as he pulled his sword down in his new burst of energy. The sword hit the god in the side and he pushed it in deeper. Crona said in a calm, but hoarse voice, "**I'll see you in hell, motherfucker. This is the end for you, once and FOR ALL."**

The Kishin, shocked by this wave of power, was unprepared for his blow. Asura spoke in a raspy voice, "**This is not the last time I will appear. The next time I return, you mortals will not be here to stop me. Just you fucking wait, Crona Makenshi Gorgon. I will DESTROY you and that adolescent girl. What's her name again? Oh wasn't it Maka-"**

** "Don't fucking ever say her name," **Crona growled. He pushed the sword in Asura's side even deeper. Asura hacked up black blood. **"You're already fucking dead. You've lost to a mortal."**

** " A 'mortal' with **_**black blood. **_**Isn't that cheating?"**

** "Afraid of what's going to happen to you once again in possession of the Shinigami? You're pathetic. Goodbye, Asura. Your time is up." **

**"Arrogant mortal," **he scoffed.

With that, Crona pulled the sword all the way through, slicing him in half.

Almost immediately, the black sphere surrounding the moon dispelled. He squinted at the light that hit his eyes, making him blind for a few seconds. All that remained of Asura were his many layers of clothes and a crimson, floating orb that emanated pure madness. Crona reached out and grabbed the soul and clutched it in his hands. He moved over to the edge of the moon and looked down.

He called on Ragnarok who came popping out of his back in wing form.

Then, he jumped and soared to the city in Death Valley, to the school that towered over everything. He pulled the soul tighter to his chest, afraid that if he was too careless, it would disappear. He looked at Shibusen,and wondered what was going to happen when he arrived.


	2. We Meet Again, My Lovely

Maka nearly shit herself when Death the Kid, now Shinigami-sama, popped up in the reflection of the window next to her. She was peacefully window shopping until she noticed the dark ball of black dissipate, revealing the moon once more with its mad grin.

She felt a weird shiver go up her spine, but it wasn't apprehensive. It felt.. good.

Kid snapped her back to her senses.

"Maka," he spoke sharply, but somewhat excitedly, "please hurry to the Death Room immediately! I have a surprise for you."

"What's so big that could interrupt my time off?" She questioned.

"Just please hurry! You'll absolutely DIE."

"Whatever you say, Kid. I'll be there in a minute." She waved goodbye and ran off and up the steep steps of the DWMA.

She was so used to those fucking steps, she didn't even break a sweat. She continued to jog towards the Death Room, anxious to find out what this 'surprise' was.

Maka was wearing a rather flattering black dress that came up about 6 inches about he knees. It hugged her curved and elegant body shape perfectly. She bumped up to a C cup (finally) which caused Soul to stop calling her "Miss Tiny Tits." She thought of that fact with satisfaction. They looked pretty damn good on her small frame too. Her blond hair was down and slightly curled and it went a few inches past her shoulders. Maka's long, graceful legs strides easily with every step, even with heels on.

The first time she was asked out in front of Soul, about 4 months ago, he looked absolutely stunned. His mouth gaped open a bit and Maka reached over and closed it for him and said something along the lines of, "close your mouth, you'll choke on your jealousy," which earned her a slight glare. She rejected the guy who asked her out and when she went to her locker, a whole bunch of partner requests and love letters spilled out. She swore she would've drowned. She had gotten even more than Soul gets in a week. It went on like that for 2 solid months, but even after that, the letter amounts dropped ever so slightly.

In that period of time, a guy named Hero who once wielded that piece-of-shit sword, Excalibur, slapped her ass. Maka decked him so hard, he ended up in the Dispensary with a Black*Star scaled bruise right in the middle of his face. That bruise stayed there for about a month. She still glared at him whenever she saw him and he turned away quite quickly. Not to mention the scolding he got from Maka's father. It's not like she hasn't been told she had a fine ass before, it's just that no one had the balls to touch, let alone, smack her ass. She was still appalled just thinking about it.

There was a party in a few hours and she didn't feel like changing right after she got done shopping again. It wasn't a big party, just a small get-together to celebrate and grieve 6 months after the battle on the moon, hence why she was wearing black.

They had lost so many wonderful people in that fucking battle, but in the end that 3-eyed fucker lost.. with the help of Crona. Maka still believes he's dead and she mercilessly blames herself for it. She gets bleary eyed just thinking about it. God, she misses him so fucking much. She promised that she would come back for him when they were inside the Kishin, finishing up the song to escape, and he believed her. She had let him down miserably. A tear traced its way down her soft cheek and onto the ground, but was soon left behind by her pace.

She soon found herself at the door that led into the Death Room.

* * *

When Crona arrived back in Death City, he wanted to find Maka immediately and hug her to death, but he needed to return Asura's soul to Shinigami-sama. As soon as he entered the Death Room, everything became so silent that he could have heard a pin drop from the top of one on the guillotine archways. He carefully walked deeper into the room until he reached... Kid?

"Crona!?" Kid's face lit up in shock as he noticed the blood-red soul cupped in his hands. His eyes widened in disbelief. "No way in hell..."

"Kid, where is Shinigami-sama? I have brought Asura's soul back to return it to him."

Kid's eyes flashed with a dejected look in his golden eyes. "He passed when my lines connected. When my Lines of Sanzu connected, I became the new Shinigami-sama. No amount of perfect symmetry was worth losing my father." He looked away disconsolately.

"I'm so sorry, Shinigami-sama.." Crona averted his gaze with sorrow and sympathy in his pale blue-gray eyes. "Here is Asura's soul," he pronounced as he sauntered over and placed the soul vigilantly in Kid's hands. "The bastard put up quite a fight. I am so sorry that my arrogance and blood lust caused all of this havoc. This is all my fucking fault. I'm on your list, right? Please, just kill me now." Crona bowed his head down, accepting his defeat, but he felt somewhat relieved.

"Crona. When you defeated Asura, you just disappeared from my list. I am not even sure how in the seven hells it happened, but it's like none of that even happened even though it did. Whether you like it or not, you played a big role in saving our world." He paused for a second and continued, "Plus, how would Maka feel if you just died without even getting to see her again?" He smirked knowingly and Crona slightly blushed about that. Before Crona could react, Kid pushed him a few feet out of view of his mirror and contacted Maka, scaring the hell out of her.

"Maka, please hurry to the Death Room immediately! I have a surprise for you." Kid told Maka.

"What's so big that could interrupt my time off?" Maka sounded slightly annoyed.

"Just please hurry! You'll absolutely DIE."

"Whatever you say, Kid. I'll be there in a minute." She then bounded off toward the DWMA. To the building that Crona was in. To the building that she had no idea Crona was in. Straight into the room where she had no idea that Crona was waiting for her in. His stomach suddenly had butterflies and he felt nothing but pure joy that he would get to hold her once more. He felt like crying out of sheer happiness, but he didn't want to look weak in front of Kid. They both waited for a good five minutes when he heard the Death Room door swing open and the clicking of heels. This was it. The moment he was looking forward to for six months.

* * *

His heart nearly stopped and his breath hitched when he saw Maka. She was wearing a black, tight fitting dress with black heels and some silver bracelets dangling off of her wrists. She had the slightest hint of eye liner and mascara that made her gorgeous emerald eyes pop. Her lips were full and a luscious shade of red. He hair was in light ringlets and her hair was down and past her shoulders. He noticed she got curvier and how she developed WAY more in her chest area (if you know what I mean ***creeper face***) and her ass was fine and plump, like it always has been. Not that he stared or anything.

She halted when she saw Crona. Her breath hitched as well as his did. The poor guy looked like he had been through absolute hell and back and then back to hell and dragged back hooked onto the tail of a truck that looked like it ran over a bunch of Asian hookers and then drove through a minefield that had a bunch of terrorists that was screaming at him in another language strapped to a 12-sided Rubix cube that was all kinds of fucked up. His hair was a pink mess and his clothes were just tattered pieces of cloth that hung from his somewhat now muscular frame that he must have obtained from his endless battle. He looked so tired. He had bags under his eyes and his beautiful eyes stared directly into hers with a longing. He had dirt on his face and a few cuts and bruises here and there. He looked awful.

But to Maka, he never looked better.

She started to say something but her knees felt shaky and tears just started flowing. She rushed forward and flung herself at his now open arms. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and cried. Crona stroked her hair so gently and held her tightly, as if she'd dissipate if he let go.

"Cronaa..." Maka sobbed, "I-I th-thought you w-were d-dead... unghhh..." she continued to sob, soaking his robe. He didn't care about that though. He just cared that she was actually there in his arms. Nothing else mattered.

"Everything is okay now, Maka. It's okay.." He continued to stroke her soft, blond hair and he even began to run his fingers through it. He was in heaven and when he closed his eyes, he could actually believe that he was. He just stood there, with his fingers in Maka's hair and her in the crook of his neck, and he believed that everything was going to be okay. He knew it. The worst was over for now.


	3. A New Look

Soul along with the rest of the Spartoi unit were flabbergasted when they found out Crona was alive and that he had defeated the Kishin. Oh no, it was not just the Spartoi who were bewildered. It was the entire school and city. Very few looked at him in fear, the rest looked up at him as a hero. He defeated that 3-eyed bastard even though it took him six months.

Crona rejoined all of his classes in the same grade as Maka, because Maka had taught him so much before, that he didn't even need to repeat any grades. He and Maka spent a lot of time together whenever they could. It was almost back to normal. Almost.

* * *

Soul somewhat saw Crona as an almost potential threat towards Maka and himself. Mostly himself. Why? Because Crona and Soul never had the best relationship before Crona had run away. Now that he knows Crona was capable of defeating Asura, the Kishin, the god of Madness, he was actually kind of scared of him.

Soul was actually more scared that he'd take his meister away from him. Soul knew Maka could get a new partner easily, but there would probably be no other person she'd date besides Crona, and he knew. A lot of people knew, although they said nothing about it, he could tell. Just the small talk like, "OMG Maka and Crona are sooooo cute together, when we he have the balls to kiss her already?" and "Maka should just dump Soul already, after all, he's dating Jacqueline behind her back anyway."

Oh yeah. And there's that thing with Jacqueline.. Soul is sort of kind of dating her. He likes her a lot too, but he also has some feelings for Maka. That's bound to happen though, they have a very stable resonance and a close friendship that goes back a few years. They've been through a lot together. He can't just leave her behind after all of that. But he really likes Jacqueline too...

He's so fucking stupid. He's dug his own grave and he fucking knows it. This is bound to end badly for him. Obviously, Maka has deep feelings for the pink-haired meister anyways. You can see it in her eyes, the way she looks at him, the way she talks so gently towards him, and even the way she hugs him. You can see all the same things with Crona too. Those two had a close bond that Soul just couldn't mess with over some unsure feelings and concerns. Soul would be selfish if he did.

He looked over at Maka who was sitting about 2 feet away from him in the classroom jotting down notes from whatever Stein said. She was paying attention so intently, something he could never do. He just smiles to himself thinking about the times she's tried to help him focus and pay attention. She was all pissed off at him at first, but after awhile, she accepted he wasn't really book-smart.

Crona sat on the other side of Maka who was focusing just as intently whereas Soul was paying no attention whatsoever. He decided in his mind that he'd take out Jacqueline tonight for the first time in two weeks since Crona arrived. He was just a little paranoid about doing it for some reason, but he thought, 'to hell with it.'

After class was over, he rushed off to talk to Jacqueline and they talked on their favorite balcony that overlooked Death City quite wonderfully. They intertwined their hands together as the sat on the edge of the balcony with their feet hanging over.

"Do you want to see a movie tonight, Jackie?"

"Yes! Of course! Can we pleaseee go see Frozen?"

"Okay, okay. We can go see Frozen since winter is starting to settle more. But since you chose the movie, you have to buy popcorn." He came nose-to-nose with Jacqueline and Eskimo kissed her. Her cheeks tinted pink and she giggled slightly.

"Okay, deal. But you have to buy the drinks since popcorn costs a billion dollars."

"Okay. Fine with me. This should be fun, it's the first time that we are able to go out since Crona returned. Maka has been spending most of her time with him, so I don't understand why we didn't have a chance before. Sorry."

"It's fine, Soul. I know it's not your fault that Kid has given you 3 Death Scythe missions. All that matters is that we get to spend some time together," she pauses briefly, "like we are now." She smiles mischievously as she leans in to kiss him. Their lips meet.

* * *

However, they weren't careful enough, because as they kissed, Crona saw them lip-locked on the way to the bathroom. His jaw dropped to the floor as he scurried away rather quickly to the bathroom. The clueless couple didn't even notice him.

Crona used the toilet and splashed his face with water trying to comprehend what he saw.

He saw Soul, Maka's weapon on which she spent a few years trying to turn into a Death Weapon, and Kim's weapon, Jacqueline with their hands intertwined and their faces battling.

There was no way in hell that he could tell Maka. It would break her beautiful heart.

This had to be going for some time now, it just can't be recent. Soul hadn't even told his meister whom he has known for years about his relationship with Jacqueline. How could he be so discreet with it? How could Soul think this could end well? How could Soul be so fucking selfish? To keep something like that to his so called 'best friend' and meister.

Why would he do this to her?

Crona's eyes flared and he suddenly wanted to go back onto that balcony and bitch-slap Soul for all he's worth.

Ragnarok came popping out of his back and rested on top of his meister's head. "**Just do it already, dumbass! I don't care for that ugly cow, but I do care that you want to beat someone up. You know you want to. Soul is just hurting Maka. Hurt him right back!" **Ragnarok began to tug on his hair while Crona just stood motionless in front of one of the mirrors and stared at his reflection blankly. At that moment, he decided he'd do something to surprise Maka. He had a great idea too.

When school let out and before Maka could find him, Crona went and talked to Tsubaki and Kim. He told them his plan to take out Maka to get her out of the way so he could do the surprise. Then he ventured off to find Liz and Patty Thompson.

* * *

He decided for this surprise that he was going to get a new wardrobe which Liz and Patty gladly offered to pay for and a new hair cut that Maka would love. When Liz and Patty heard his, they squealed with delight.

"When we get done with you, Maka will absolutely LOVE you!" Liz exclaimed.

"L-love me?" He blushed darkly at this with a smile on his face as he stared down at his shoes.

"Yes, LOVE!" Liz and Patty squealed at him in unison.

* * *

Crona looked at himself in the mirror with some black pants and white shirt and a gray sweater over the shirt. He ditched his old shoes for some plain black and white Converse, which looked good on him. Then his eyes moved up to his hair. It was cut short and spiky. It was the type of hairstyle that did not hang down in any way and that was cut close to his scalp, but it looked soft and spiky. It was still his natural color of pink, but he liked it. It was a big change for him, but he hoped Maka would like it, because he certainly liked it.

It made him feel more normal, like he wasn't an outcast or a freak. He was a 'normal' teenager like his weapon and meister friends. Even in the past two weeks, he started to become more social and he got to spend more time with Maka. Even his stuttering started to cease. He liked his new self. He liked be somewhat normal. It made him feel good on the inside.

He kept staring at himself in the mirror and he couldn't wait to show Maka his new look the next morning. Damn, was he excited. Then came his negative feelings.

_What if she doesn't like it!? _He thought. _Why am I so worried about this? Why is my heart beating so fast? I really hope she likes it._ He sighs and changes into his pajamas and goes to be bed. As he lays his head on his pillow, he can't help to think of he reaction tomorrow. He desperately hopes that Maka enjoys his new look. Even if it's just one smile towards him, he'd be so fucking happy.


	4. I'm In Love?

**Hello, lovelies.**

**I hope you're enjoying my story so far. I've written 3(this'll be my 4th)chapters in just a few hours.**

**I already had the idea in my head and I really wanted to get it down before I got too lazy and didn't. I sincerely hope you're enjoying it so far and there will be lemons eventually, so calm your tits. **

**Beware of my future plot twist, okay!?**

**Sayonara, lovelies!**

* * *

Crona took a deep breath as he entered Class Crescent Moon. Maka was still unpacking her stuff for class, so she didn't notice him yet. She was bent over to get something from her bag and, not even realizing it, stared at her perfect ass.

**_Pervert. _**Ragnarok whispered in his head. **_Not bad though._**

Crona's cheeks tinted slightly finally realizing that he was staring at her ass and continued up the stairs to his seat. Maka sat down and got her papers in order and then Crona sat down next to her. Maka looked over at him to say good morning and her breath hitched when she saw his new look.

He looked absolutely handsome.

"Crona! I can see your face!" She beams at him.

"Is that a good thing?" He questions playfully.

"Yes! You look really handsome!" She beams again and than blushes realizing what she just said. Crona blushes along with her. "Those clothes look nice on you too. Did Liz and Patty help you pick them out?" She raises and eyebrow with a smirk on her Anglo and angelic face.

"Yes. They also helped pick out my haircut," he stated.

To his surprise, Maka reached over and ran a hand through his short, spiky hair. "I like it. It's still soft!" She exclaims. Then she hugs him and pulls away. She grabs onto his upper arms and studies him. "Why did you change your look, Crona? It's not that I don't like it, I just want to know why." She smiles at him sweetly.

"It makes me feel kind of normal. It makes me feel comfortable around other people."

"I'm glad that you found something you're comfortable in and that you like. It really does look good on you. Seriously!" She smiles at him again with that enchanting smile that makes his heart beat so fast. His cheeks tint once more and shares a smile and a giggle with Maka.

Then the bell rang. Stein and all of his craziness rolled in on his office chair, falling flat on his face when it hitched on the threshold transition strip. Stein simply picked himself up and rolled to his desk.

"Okay class. Today we will be dissecting eyeballs," he stated with a hint of excitement in his voice. His glasses were glared by the fluorescent lights from the ceiling.

The whole class groaned, including Crona and Maka.

Soul raised his hand and said, "Why the hell do we always do dissections. How the fuck does this help us when we're in combat?"

"You can dissect your enemies and take their vital organs as trophies," he states blankly.

"Yeah, but the body dissipates and it just leaves behind the soul which the weapon eats."

"Not all the time. Now shut up and clear your desk everyone. You each get your own eyeball."

Maka tenses up. Crona looks over with a concerned face.

"Are you okay, Maka?" Crona asks the blond meister.

"I-I don't like eyeballs. Especially eyeballs that aren't in a socket. They stare at me and it's creepy." Her face crunches up distastefully in disgust.

"It's okay, just turn the pupils away."

"I guess I could do that." She smiles faintly at him. "Still creepy either way though."

* * *

After a that horrifying class and a few more classes, lunch finally came. Crona and Maka sat outside enjoying the warmth that would be gone soon for winter. Even in Death Valley it got chilly. They sat shoulder to shoulder eating their lunches.

Crona couldn't stop thinking about the kiss Soul and Jacqueline had shared, that Soul would secretly hurt this beautiful angel. Crona believed everything about Maka was beautiful, pure, and graceful. He could go on forever. She was heavenly. He didn't deserve her and he fucking knew it. Why did she still like him anyway? It made no sense.

They were night and day. Night and Day can't be friends. She was light and he was darkness. She was a woman. She was confusing. But that made him want her to be closer to him even more. He wanted to protect her and anything that was Maka. Everything that was Maka. He needed her, but he didn't deserve a goddess such as she.

* * *

Maka reached over a squeezed his hand, sensing his discomfort.

"Do you want to do something tomorrow? It's Saturday you know and Soul is going to hang out with Black*Star so I thought we could do something," she said happily to him.

He smiled and shook his head 'yes' in response. The thing that bothered him was that she said Soul was going to hang out with Black*Star. Crona knew what Soul was actually doing. Soul was taking Jacqueline to the movies. He fucking lied to his own meister, right in her face, what the fuck is-

"What do want to do?" She gazed at him with a smile on her soft face, wrecking his negative train of thought. "We could go out to eat, to the movies, to the park, you choose!"

"Ummmm...Hmmmm... can we just go to the park, eat, and hang out at your house afterwards?"

"Sure." She nods her head enthusiastically. "I can't wait. And it's only a day away."

"Yep. I love Fridays." _And you. _He thought.

His eyes widened at that sudden thought, but he just accepted this...

* * *

**He was in love with Maka.**


	5. I Can't Wait!

**Yes, Yes.**

**I understand my chapters are short and a little boring, but I promise to spice it up in this chapter.**

**However, I just woke up and my brain is still somewhat asleep.**

**I will try my best.**

**For those of you who haven't read all of the manga, some of the stuff in here will have spoilers and you might be confused. Sorry.**

**Anyway, read on, lovelies.**

* * *

Soul had his arm over Jacqueline as they watched Frozen in the chilly movie theater. It was a lame move, yes, but Jacqueline didn't mind. She cuddled up to him, enjoying his warmth.

_Maybe I shouldn't have worn short sleeves today, _She thought to herself, _but at least I get cuddles, right? _She smiled up at Soul and rested her head on his shoulder.

* * *

Crona and Maka strolled through the park with their hands intertwined. Maka had brought some bread for the ducks so they could feed them, which Crona offered to carry.

They took their seats on a bench close to the small lake where there was a fair amount of ducks. Maka took the bag gently from Crona and pulled out some small chunks of bread. She tossed them in front on the ducks on the pond. The closest ducks made a hungry dive for them and gobbled the bread up. Maka pulled out some more bread and handed the bag back to Crona.

"Now you feed the ducks, and if they get too close to us or start chasing you, drop the bread and run. They can be vicious," Maka explained to him.

"Ducks can be vicious?" Crona asked in reply to her.

"Yes. Once Black*Star tried to feed them and he wouldn't let go of the bread, so the ducks all ganged up on him and pecked the shit out of him until he let go of it. It was funny as hell!"

"Haha. I bet.." He paused for a second and then stood up. "I AM THE GREAT AND INCREDIBLE BLACK*STAR. BOW TO YOUR GOD, DUCKS."

"**Yeah, you feathery fucker-faces. WE ARE YOUR GODS!" **Ragnarok stated this as he came out of Crona's back.

Maka burst out into laughter. She laughed for a good two minutes until she finally ceased it. She noticed some of the ducks getting closer and closer and they were still holding the bread. _Oh shit, _She thought intelligently.

"Crona, drop the bread!" Maka yelled at him as she tossed her own bread away somewhere. He saw what she meant and he immediately dropped it like it's hot. _Dropped it like it's hot. _He giggled at himself, but failed to realize that Ragnarok was holding a piece of bread on his head. By the time he did, it was too fucking late.

A duck pecked him in the shin- **hard.** "**OW! **You motherfucker!" He shouted at both Ragnarok and the duck. "SONUVABITCH." He started to hit at Ragnarok to make him let go of the bread and Ragnarok was laughing his metaphoric ass off. He laughed so hard, he loosed his grip on the bread and Crona ripped it out of his hands and threw it far away. The ducks chased it without a second thought.

Maka was trying so hard not to laugh. She was giggling, but she kept trying to hold it , she gave up and cracked up again and Crona saw she was laughing. He hit Ragnarok as he disappeared into his back once more and Crona laughed along with Maka.

"Those ducks are vicious," Crona said, still mildly giggling.

"I told you so!" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Is that how it's going to be?" He raised his eyebrow and smiled as he stuck out his tongue back at her.

"Is that a challenge, good sir? DOUST THOU EVEN HOIST!?"

"CEASE ALL ACTIVITIES THOU ART ENGAGED IN, THE HOUR OF HAMMER IS UPON US!" He shouted as he picked up Maka by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. "Let us go get some food, madam."

"Hey, put me down! Unfair advantage!" She hit at his back lightly with her fists.

"Nope! Not unfair, I'm just stronger. Now, where do you want to eat?"

"I'll tell you when you put me down!"

"Okay, fine." Crona set her down gently on the cobblestone road.

"Let's go eat something at Death Robin's. They have awesome burgers!"

"Sounds good! Let's go!"

* * *

Soul and Jacqueline were talking as they exited the theater from their movie.

"That movie was awesome, I fucking loved it!" Jacqueline exclaimed. (I'm not going to say anything, I don't want to spoil it)

"It was. You picked a pretty good movie," Soul replied.

"I know, right!?" Jacqueline paused. "Hey Soul, do you want to stay over at my house tonight? Pleaseeeee~"

"Let me think about it."

"Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee~" She begged with puppy-dog eyes. She even pouted her bottom lip.

"I guess it couldn't hurt." He smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "Just let me call Maka to let her know.

* * *

Maka's phone began ringing as they were walking to Death Robin's and she answered it, seeing that it was Soul.

"_Hey Maka." _He began through the phone. "_I wanted to call and tell you that I'm going to stay at Black*Star's house tonight, if you don't mind."_

"No, I don't mind. Have fun! See you tomorrow."

"_See ya, Maka._"

Maka hung up her phone and put it back in her pocket.

Crona thought of Soul staying at "Black*Star's" house. How could Soul just lie straight to her. He knew damn well he was staying at Jacqueline's house. It really pissed him off. What pissed him off was that Maka had absolutely no clue. He really wanted to tell her, but he wasn't sure if it really was his place to tell her.

He sighed in defeat. He couldn't tell her. It would probably kill her. He looked over at her. She looked so happy right now and he didn't want to just ruin her mood.

* * *

As they arrived at the restaurant, all of his concerns washed away like when the water reached his ocean-less beach. He smiled at that, remembering when they actually met and they were not fighting. She erased the line that he saw separated him from the rest of the world and society.

And then the hug. At that moment, when she hugged him for the first time, he got a weird feeling, but he liked it. He didn't understand then, but now he realizes that it was love. When Maka first hugged him, he fell in love with her. He didn't know how she felt, but it didn't matter right now because he had Maka all to himself.

Once they were seated in the restaurant, Maka asked him a question he never thought about since he had been back at Shibusen.

"What was it like when you were battling for all of those months on the moon?" The question came out of Maka as low as a whisper. "What were you thinking of?"

"It was excruciating. The only thing that kept me alive was... well... it was you. I needed to see you once more before I was to die because I thought I was still on Shinigami's list. Once Shinigami-sama told me I wasn't on his list, I felt so relieved. I felt even more relieved when I got to see you again. I missed you so much, Maka."

Maka teared up and she looked like she was about to cry. She ran over and sat on his side of the booth and hugged him and in return he wrapped his arms around her. Her shoulders jerked slightly with her silent crying. He wondered how she could be so quiet when she cried. Was she used to crying so much? That thought made him want to cry.

Crona rested his chin on her head and pulled her close.

"Crona. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry, Maka? You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I never came back for you. I promised I would but I-"

"You're here with me now aren't you? That's all that matters. You would've been killed if you were trapped in that sphere. I have black blood and he nearly killed me. I couldn't bare to lose you. You mean so much more than you think you do to me. You're my first and best friend, Maka. I couldn't lose you. I don't know what I would do without you. You make me feel so much better about myself. I couldn't ask for anyone better than you." _You are my angel, Maka._

"Crona, you're my best friend too. Not even Soul understands me as well as you understand me. Don't you ever go and die on me, okay?" She smiled faintly and kissed his cheek. He blushed an impossible shade of red. "Do you have a fever or something?"

"N-no," he said quickly, his stutter showing through.

"Good." She hugs him tightly as a waitress comes over to take their order. They both get the same thing of burgers, fries, shakes, and an onion ring tower to share between them.

They munch happily on their food, still sitting on the same side of the booth. As they finish up their food and pay their bill, a group of guys walks in.

Maka knows these guys. She immediately jumps up and pulls Crona up by the arm rather forcefully. They thank their waitress as she pulls him into a hiding spot behind a pillar as the group is seated.

"Do you know those guys, Maka?" Crona asks.

"Yes, and we need to make a run for it when they aren't looking."

"Why? Have they hurt you before?" He questions, sounding a little angry.

"No, but all of these guys have asked me out and they won't fucking leave me alone."

"Oh." Crona balls his fists and glares sharply at the group of guys. He grabs Maka's hand and pulls her out at the right moment and they make their way out of the restaurant and onto the street. The sun had already start to set, so the streetlights flickered on. He continues to hold Maka's hand as they made their way to her apartment.

* * *

"Blair won't be back until about 3 a.m., so we'll be alone. Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure. What type of movie?"

"How about a horror movie?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Don't be scared~!" Maka sticks her tongue out at Crona as she makes some popcorn and pops a movie in. She put in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She had never seen it because Soul had brought it home only about a week ago.

They plop down on the couch side by side as the movie starts up.

Maka just about shit herself when the girl blew her brains out in the car right in the beginning and she turned away and buried her face into Crona's chest.

"Don't be scared, Maka~!" Crona teased.

"Oh shut up," Maka replied, but she was blushing with embarrassment.

After the movie was over, Maka was pretty much clinging on Crona.

"I-is it over, Crona?" She asked him.

"Yes, it's over Maka."

"Good!" She flips the TV back to Comedy Central. She yawned and rested her head on his shoulder and before she knew it, she was out.

Crona didn't want to move her, she looked comfortable and he was pretty comfortable as well. Not before long, he fell asleep with her in his arms.

* * *

Maka's eyes fluttered open. Light filtered through the curtains. She felt the cushion beneath her breathe.

Wait. That wasn't a fucking cushion. It was a person. Not just any person.

It was Crona.

The position they were in was wrong. Not that it bothered her, it was just wrong.

Her head rested on his chest and his, er, _morning wood_ was poking her stomach and that was uncomfortable. Her left arm was under the back side of his shirt and her right hand was asleep and it was under the back side of his shirt as well. Crona was still asleep, unaware of this.

She rolled off of him and onto the floor with a _thump_ and a groan. She pulled herself up and put a blanket over Crona and hobbled into the kitchen. She began to make pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast. She poured two glasses of orange juice and all the smells woke Crona up.

"My neck hurts," he complained immediately. "What happened?"

"Umm... we kind fell asleep on the same couch in a really awkward position. That's probably why your neck hurts." He blushed at the mention of falling asleep on the same couch.

"S-sorry.."

"It's okay. Just come over here and get some breakfast."

With that, Crona yanked himself up off of the couch and sat at the table he started to eat his breakfast silently until Ragnarok popped out.

"**Where the fuck is my food, bitch!?" **Ragnarok screeched.

"Here, I set some aside for you." Maka said bluntly.

**"Thanks, you stupid cow~! You may be a bitch, but you can fucking cook!"**

"Don't call her that Ragnarok or I'll eat your food!" Crona chastised him.

**"Fine! Don't touch my food, you little faggot!"**

"Shut the hell up, Ragnarok," Crona growled.

**"OKAY, damn, sorry. Calm your bitch-tits."**

Maka looked surprised at his sudden outburst at his weapon. She has rarely ever seen that.

They continued eating with Ragnarok's annoying chomping. Then, the door suddenly swung open.

* * *

Soul walked in with a small bag of his clothes. He looked like he just got up and didn't brush his hair or anything. He stopped for a moment and raised his eyebrow at them.

"How long has _he _been here?" He said while looking at Crona.

"We kind of fell asleep on the couch when we were watching TV," Maka explained.

"Oh, okay. Whatever. I'm still tired so I'm going back to sleep," Soul replied.

"Okay, have fun."

After he walked back into his room and shut the door, they just looked at each other.

"He looked like he got hit by a bus," Maka said while taking a drink of her orange juice.

"He kind of did," Crona agreed.

* * *

After breakfast, Crona went back to Shibusen to get cleaned up and they decided to take a walk later.

"I'll see you later, Crona. I had a lot of fun yesterday." Maka smiled up at him and hugged him.

"Me too. We should do that again." He smiled back.

Maka hugged him and kissed his cheek again.

"I'll see you later~!" She waved goodbye and closed the door to her apartment gently.

He stood there for a second with his hand on his now pink cheek. He smiled to himself and walked away.

_We should do that again. _He thought to himself. He just felt so happy. It was a happiness he thought he could never have. He couldn't wait to see her again later.


	6. Baby, It's Fucking Cold Outside

**Hello again, lovelies.**

**Here is a little fluff for you.**

**This is kind of a laid back chapter, I'm not really sure what else to call it.**

**Anyway, winter is drawing near, as well as the Christmas Eve dance.**

**So enjoy, my weird lovelies.**

* * *

Soul and Jacqueline walked to Jacqueline's apartment side by side. Jacqueline was walking right up against Soul and he had his arm around her waist. Jacqueline's skirt brushed against his pants with every step they took. Soul enjoyed peaceful moments like this, especially after the battle with the Kishin. He was sure the people he battled with on the moon and survived felt the same.

Once inside Jacqueline's apartment, Soul pulled her down onto the couch and switched on the television. He clicked the Netflix button on the remote and selected an episode of Doctor Who. Yes, Soul is a Whovian. Very little people knew this and when he said very little, he meant Maka and Jacqueline. He liked to be a very private person, but he always perked up at any mentions of Doctor Who.

Soul yawned rather vocally after about 4 episodes of Doctor Who. Being 11 at night and Maka always waking him up so early, he was tired, but not so tired that he didn't want to have a little _fun _with his Jackie.

Jacqueline was facing the TV in a spooning position or some shit with Soul. She felt something wet go up the shell of her ear and she realized it was Soul's tongue. Then she felt her hair being moved out of the way and his lips on her neck. She felt his sharp teeth graze her skin and she lightly moaned with pleasure.

Oh, did Soul like that little moan, so he did it again, but a little harder. It earned him a louder moan. Jacqueline flipped herself over so she was facing him. She leaned into him and kissed him on the lips. She licked his bottom lip and in response, he bit her bottom lip.

Soul pulled himself up with Jacqueline while still kissing her. He picked her up bridal style and carried her into her room. He shut the bedroom door and locked it behind him.

I think you know what happens next. (*creeper face*)

Hey, I promised fluff, not lemons.

Yet.

* * *

**A Motherfucking Week**** Later**

Winter was drawing even closer. It was practically there already. Most of the leaves from the trees in Death City were gone, despite being in the middle of the desert. In Death Valley, it could get quite chilly, especially at night.

"Are all the winter dance preparations complete, Death Scythe Spirit Albarn and Death Scythe Marie Mjolnir?" Kid questioned them in excitement.

"Yes. We have everything ordered and we have catering set up for Christmas Eve. Ooo~ I can't wait!" Marie shouted in glee.

"Me neither~! **BUT THOSE BOYS BETTER NOT LAY A FINGER ON MY LITTLE MAKA!" **Spirit yelled. **"I'LL RIP OUT THEIR EYES AND PUT THEM IN BACKWARDS!"**

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to harm any students of the academy. Especially not over something as ridiculous as a guy asking your daughter out. It's not like she has not been asked out before," Kid stated blanky.

**"WHO ASKED HER OUT!?" **He demanded.

"A lot of students did, but that is none of your concern. You may not hurt any of my students. If you do, I will have to suspend you from your Death Scythe duties until you can contain yourself."

"Yes, Shinigami-sama. I understand," he said in defeat. He took a step back with his head down.

"Annnnyyyyway. I picked out all the decorations, so they should be perfectly symmetrical for you, Kid," Marie notified.

"What type of decorations?" He debriefed.

"Some snowflakes and sparkly streamers and whatnot. We have two giant Christmas trees, one for each side of the room."

"Wonderful! This dance shall be immaculate! And it's only two more weeks away! We shall party until we can't party anymore!"

"AMEN!"

* * *

"MAKA!" Liz called after the blond meister. "Have you gotten your dress for the Winter dance? If not, can Patty and I help you pick one out~?"

Maka sighed. "No, I haven't gotten it yet, but I could use your help. I wouldn't mind as long as you guys don't."

"Let us do your hair and makeup 'n stuff too!" Patty hollered happily at Maka.

"Please don't hurt me. Last time you rubbed me raw with that damn lava rock."

"It worked, didn't it!?"

"It did make my skin really soft, but it fucking hurt!"

"Too bad!"

Maka pouted at them. "Fine. Just do it lighter this time, damn."

"Okay~!"

"When do you want to pick out a dress?" Liz asked her.

"Hmm.. How about this Saturday? I haven't got any plans that day, so we might as well do it then. After all, it's Friday again~! I love Fridays," Maka stated.

"Then it's settled! We'll find you the awesomest dress that will make everyone's heads turn!" Liz declared with determination.

"Yeah, just don't kill me in the process."

"No promises~!" the Thompson sisters giggled in unison.

* * *

Crona sat across from Maka at a small table in the DeathBucks cafe. They drank their hot chocolate in silence until Crona spoke up.

"Why is it so cold out here in the desert?"

"Because it's winter, silly," she tells him with an amused smile on her face. " Even if you're in the desert it gets cold."

"I _hate _the cold."

"Agreed. Plus, the trees look so ugly without leaves. I like the trees better in the fall. Their leaves look like fire, especially when they rain down everywhere. It's so beautiful."

"Yeah, they are. So, what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"Oh, I'm going to go get my dress for the winter dance with Liz and Patty. They're probably going to make me try on every damn dress." She pouted just thinking about it. "I really hate shopping, so this is probably going to suck ass for me."

"I hope you find the right dress, even if you do end up trying on everything in Death City. I bet you'd still look wonderful anyway. You always do." He blushed realizing the last part that he said and when he looked at her she was blushing intensely and her gaze was averted elsewhere.

"Do you want to hang out on Sunday, Crona? We could go rollerskating or something. You can pick again."

"Yeah, we should go rollerskating. That sounds like fun. Do you want to get something to eat afterwards?"

"Yeah, sure. Where should we eat?"

"Do you want to eat at Taco Death and then go get some ice cream at United Death Farmers?"

"Yes~! I love tacos and shit!"

"Haha, good!" He smiles genuinely at her. His smile falls when he thinks about something.

_**Goddammit, Crona, just fucking ask the dumb bitch to the damn dance already. I know how badly you want to, so just fucking do it, dumbass! **_Ragnarok spoke in his head.

"H-hey Maka.. c-can I ask you s-something?" He pushes his two index fingers together and looks down into his hot chocolate.

"Sure, you can ask me anything~!" She replies with that gorgeous smile on her face.

_**Go hard or go fucking home, retard! **_Ragnarok says in his head again.

"Umm... w-will you... ummm.."

"Will I what?" She sits up straight and waits patiently for him to finish, staring at him with her piercing green eyes.

_**FUCKING DO IT SO I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOUR BITCHING AND MOANING LATER! **_Ragnarok yells viciously at him.

"W-will you go the umm.. d-dance with me?" He looks her right in the eye and something in them softens and it looks like.. joy?

"YES~! I-I mean, yes, of course I'll go with you," she composes herself.

His breath hitches and he looks at her contently. "Really?"

"Yes, really." She smiles at him widely and she takes a sip of her cocoa. Her smile tones down and she looks at him seriously. "Why would you think I'd say no?"

"I'm not really sure.." Crona said and he scratched behind his head.

"Shit!" Maka said intelligently as she saw what time it was. "Sorry, Crona, I have to go! I'm supposed to make dinner tonight! Would you like to come and help me?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah, sure, why not."

"Okay, then let's go!" She hollered as she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to her apartment.

* * *

Around nine o' clock the next morning, Maka heard a knock on the door. She opened it up to find Liz and Patty beaming at her.

"Goooood morning Maka~!" The twins sung in unison.

"Ready to go?" Liz asked happily.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Maka pronounced halfheartedly. "Let's get this done."

"Don't be such a pooper-scooper!" Patty shouted at her cheerfully. "Now move it, sister!" Patty grabbed Maka by the arm and pulled her out the door and into the complex hallway. With that, she pushed Maka down the hall and Patty and Liz followed.


	7. Don't Think About the Negatives, Darling

**Hey there sexy.**

**How you doin'.**

**I like your face.**

**Being serious now, I have some more fluff for your fine asses.**

**Of course, some of this fluff wouldn't have been possible without the help of..**

**Drum roll please...**

**Hatter Quicktype!**

**Thank you for such awesome ideas!**

**Also, thank you for all of the support you have given me.**

**I really appreciate it.**

**Anyway, I won't be updating as often because I have a pretty big project for my History class and we have to build a parade float and shit. SO, I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.**

**Let's begin this shit!**

* * *

_Oh my fucking god, my feet hurt so badddddd, _Maka complained in her head. Liz and Patty continued throwing dresses over the door to her dressing room stall. None of them seemed to fit right; too tight, too big, too long, too short, too ugly, too dull, too sparkly, too expensive (even though Liz and Patty said that they'd pay, Maka set a price limit for herself), too weird, too bright, too weird, and the list went on and on for her.

She stepped out of her stall and sighed in defeat. She sat down on one of the benches in the waiting area and put her face in her hands. Liz came down and sat next to her.

"Maka, what's wrong?" She asked sincerely.

"I just can't seem to find the right dress; nothing fits me right. I've tried on just about every single dress in Death City and nothing is perfect," Maka replied.

"Maka, we'll find the perfect dress. I promise. When you find the perfect dress, you'll definitely know. You get that weird feeling that welcomes you. You will get your perfect dress."

Maka turned her head and smiled at Liz. "Do you really think so?"

"If I didn't think so, would I still be here throwing dresses at you?"

"You have a good point. Thanks, Liz." Maka hugged Liz and after they finished hugging, Liz pulled her off of the bench.

"Let's go find your dress!" She yelled in determination.

* * *

Maka's feet were seriously starting to hurt like fuck. She had searched almost every store in Death City and she didn't find "the dress."

"Liz, can we please just give this up already? We've looked everywhere!" Maka complained.

"Not everywhere! I have one more place left! I have a feeling!" Liz shouted.

_"Kyrie eleison," _Maka spoke as she rolled her eyes.

Liz and Patty quickly pulled her into a tiny little dress shop in the lowest level in Death City. It looked pretty ancient, but there were up-to-date dresses in the windows and young women working around the store. There were dresses in every nook and cranny of all sorts of colors, sizes, styles, and designs.

"There are no other dresses like any of these dresses. They're all one-of-a-kind and they're designed by some older women which have had this store in their family for generations. Their dresses are so beautiful," Liz said with admiration.

Maka gawked at some of the dresses, but she didn't feel a tug towards one at all. They all set off to rifle through the racks. Maka saw a pink dress with a big bow on the chest with ruffles going down to the hem of the dress. She picked it up and threw it over her arm. She also found a black dress that went all the way to the ground and had a silver collar. She also threw that one over her arm with the pink dress.

Maka then turned around to head to the dressing rooms when she saw a white dress. It cut up on one side of the dress on what she guessed would show up the thigh of her leg. It had no sleeves or straps and it had the lightest hint of sparkles that caught the light. She felt the tug, so she picked it up and hurried into the dressing rooms.

The black one fit nicely on her, but the dress looked too much like what other people were going to wear. People liked the color black because it made them feel more superior over others and she got that. That's what she felt like in her black trench coat that her mother gave her before she left Maka in Nevada.

The pink bow dress came up a little to high for her taste and it was too tight on her hips, so she quickly tugged that dress off.

The moment of truth came with the white dress. She slipped it on with ease. It felt so familiar, like she had had it forever. She gasped at herself in the mirror. She looked like a literal angel. It came up a few inches below her pelvic bone on her right thigh and it showed all of that leg. The sweetheart neckline showed an honest amount of cleavage that Maka liked.

Liz knocked on her stall door and slipped some dresses over the top. As soon as she did, Maka stepped out in the dress. Patty dropped the dresses that she was holding and the twins both gasped.

"Maka! You look amazing!" Patty squealed.

"Do you think that's 'the dress', because I sure do," Liz stated.

"I think this is the dress. It feels perfect," Maka said with a smile.

"Let's go check this shit out!" Patty declared with a goofy smile.

* * *

**A Motherfucking Day Later**

Maka admired the dress that was spread out before her on her bed. She couldn't help it. She loved it like her Maka Chopping book. She loved that book. A lot.

However, she needed to stop drooling over her dress and get ready to go rollerskating with Crona.

After she finished showering, she braided her hair to the side and she slipped on a pair of skinny jeans with some socks and a soft lavender colored shirt that frilled at the ends. The shirt showed a sliver of her tummy which she liked to do sometimes even when it was cold outside. She put on a black jacket and she pulled on some black flats with bows on the toes.

Then, she heard a knock on her door. _Right on time,_ she thought with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Crona!" She said with a smile on her face as she stepped out and hugged him.

"Hey, Maka," he said, returning the hug. "Ready to go?"

"Of course," she replied while locking the door behind her. "So, what are you going to get at Taco Death after we go skating?" she asked while turning around.

"I think I'm going to get a Deathritos Locos Taco. I heard they're pretty good. What are you going to get?"

"Probably the same thing. I haven't gotten a chance to try them yet. Anway, let's get going!" Maka grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Crona gripped her hand lightly and began to fall into pace with her.

He always hated physical contact, unless it came down to Maka. He liked to touch her hands and her hair and he loved hugging her. The pillow he used to hug all the time in Roomsy Kornerkov (his corner in his room at Shibusen) was given to him by Maka and it smelled faintly like her. He liked to hug it and pretend it was her and imagined holding hands with her and kissing her until Ragnarok popped out of his back and called him **gayyyyy.** He didn't care though. He kept thinking about that stuff even after Ragnarok melted back into his body. Crona rarely ever thought of him and Maka having more sexual activity than kissing, but when he did, he imagined it'd be the most amazing thing ever since sliced bread. He liked bread. Bread was good. But he liked Maka even more.

Even if Maka didn't know how he felt about her, holding her hand was enough for now. Spending time with her was precious to him because she was the closest person to him. It was almost like she was giving him all of her affection because Crona has never seen Maka treat Soul or anyone else the way she treats him. Crona liked that a lot too. He knew he shouldn't be jealous of Soul or anything, but the guy gets to live with her.

Maka offered for Crona to live with her, but he said no because he thought it'd build even more tension between him and Soul. Crona was not positive if Maka could see the wall between them, but he was sure she knew Soul wasn't a big fan of him. Crona disliked Soul quite a lot. It was like as soon as Soul got a chance, he'd just be rude to him or rub in his close relationship with Maka in front of him. To Crona, the scythe was just a naturally jealous and hypocritical person. He was mean towards him about his and Maka's close relationship when Maka had no idea about his relationship with Jacqueline. If Maka knew, she'd probably by furious.

Crona had seen Maka livid at Soul, but he wasn't sure how angry she'd be at him for this. Weapons and their meisters were supposed to share thoughts, feelings, and their buisness with each other so they could understand each other and resonate better.

His weapon was inside his body and even he knew this. It wasn't fair to Maka that Soul wasn't telling her everything. All the more reasons for Crona to dislike Soul. And that fucking smirk made him so pissed off. It was like Soul thought he was so fucking cool and better than everybody else, even his own meister. You know, the meister that turned him into a Death Scythe and had a grigori soul. He was so unappreciative of Maka. He didn't get that Maka tried her best to make him the most amazing Death Scythe there could possibly be. Did Soul care? No. No he didn't.

Crona continued these thoughts all the way to the rollerskating rink and then stopped them when Maka saw the thoughtful look on his face.

"Are you okay, Crona? I know that look anywhere.. what are you thinking of?" Maka asked him curiously.

"Oh... umm.. nothing really, just thinking if I should get in-lined blades or skates," he said nervously.

"You should get blades, they're easier to skate on." She gave him a suspicious look and then a smile and pulled him inside.

When they got their blades, they picked a table to sit down at to put them on. Maka unzipped her jacket and he saw the slit of her skin between her top and pants. Since when did she have shirts like that and why hasn't he seen them sooner?

She saw him staring. "It gets really hot in here when you skate. Once, I wore a sweater. I got so hot, I poured a cup of water down my sweater. Everyone looked at me like I was on drugs or something. It was pretty funny." She smiled brightly at him.

They began to pull off their shoes and put on their blades. Maka rose up from her chair and onto her roller blades and she shuffled forward towards Crona and pulled him up.

"Don't fall on your ass, Crona~!" Maka teased as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"If I go down, you're going down with me!" He replied. He then pulled her by the hand and onto the rink. They skated with ease on the shiny, smooth white floor. It sorta looked like frozen milk to him.

There were strobe lights and disco balls. With all of these flashing lights, it could have given an epileptic kid a seizure.

All of a sudden, one of Maka's favorite songs came on. (Not Pon Pon Pon, you assholes)

It was Doctor by Cute Is What We Aim For. She liked it because she thought it had a pretty nice beat and she liked their voices. It made her want to dance and sing with it. Without even realizing it, she was just about full on singing her heart out when she saw Crona looking at her.

Her eyes went wide and she blushed with embarrassment.

"I didn't know that you sung, Maka. How come you've never told me?" Crona asked genuinely.

"I don't like to sing in front of people, but the song got the better of me," She said with a small smile.

Hey smiled at her and said, "You have a really pretty voice, you should sing more often."

She just looked at him in confusion.

"What? I'm serious, Maka!"

"Thanks, but don't tell anyone else or they'll be up my butt about it."

A slow song came on and she saw a ton of couples get on the rink and start skating very close. Maka reached over and grabbed Crona's hand, very much to his surprise. She swiveled closer to him on her blades and clung onto his arm with her other hand.

Warmth spread through Crona as he grabbed her hand back and began to skate a little slower to enjoy the moment of closeness with Maka as much as he could. Maka closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder and let him lead. She trusted him.

They enjoyed that for a few minutes until someone hit her from behind, causing her to fall over.

Crona's reflexes kicked in as he caught her, but then went down with her. _I'm fancy as fuck, am I not? _He thought in his head.

His head landed on something soft. And purple.

He quickly realized what he landed on. It was Maka, yes, but it was the part of Maka he landed on.

Yes, he landed on her chest and he blushed a deep shade of red and pulled himself up immediately.

Maka didn't seem to notice because she hit her head on the floor and she sat up, rubbing it. "Owww. What the fuck just happened?" She moaned in pain. Crona grabbed her hands and pulled her up unsteadily onto her blades. He then put her arm over his shoulder and skated her over to their table and sat her down.

"Someone hit you from behind and you hit your head. I went to catch you, but I fell and you took quite the fall, Maka. I'm glad you're alright," Crona explained.

"Me too, but that really hurt," Maka complained.

"Do you want to go home?"

"No, it should subside in a few minutes if I sit for a few minutes."

"Do you want ice or something?"

"Haha, no thanks Crona. You don't have to be such a worry worm, you know? I'm fine."

"I just want to be sure that you're okay, Maka? Who wouldn't worry over someone as amazing as you, Maka. Can't you see that?" He smiled at her lightly. "Why do you degrade yourself like that all the time?"

"I..."

"Do you want to get something to eat now? We've been skating for awhile now. I'm hungry."

"O-okay," she said with a very mixed expression on. Crona couldn't tell what she was thinking and as he was trying to process that, she smiled at him.

* * *

After another hour of talking mindlessly and eating tacos and ice cream, Maka was back at her apartment with Crona. They sat on the couch in silence as they watched a TV show.

Maka couldn't help but to think about what Crona said at the roller rink. _Why do you degrade yourself like that all the time?_

She thought to herself and she finally said out loud, "I degrade myself like that because I hate it when people worry about me. It makes me feel so weak and so useless. I don't like pity, especially over hitting my head on the floor. Especially not from you, Crona. I don't want you to see me in states like that."

Crona smiled at her. "Stuff like that doesn't make me think that you're weak, it makes you seem even more brave."

"How so?" She asked doubtfully.

"Most people probably would've cried, but all you really said was 'ow' and we went out for another hour after that. Stop thinking that you're weak because you're human and you feel physical pain. It's so silly, Maka. And like I said, I wouldn't see you any different. Just the same old Maka who is my best friend."

She looked up at him with hopeful green eyes. "Do you really mean that, Crona," she said gently as her eyes softened.

"Of course, Maka," he said scooching closer. "You know I do." He pulled her into a hug. Maka put her arms around his neck and hugged him back.

Maka loved hugging him. He smelt really good to her; like flowers and some type of light cologne. He was so gentle when he hugged her, too. She liked the way his posture softened when he hugged her. It made her feel like he trusted her a lot, since he trusted no one at all. It made her feel special to have him as her best friend and she wished she could hug him all the time, especially when she and Soul or one of her other friends had a fight with her. Crona never annoyed her either. Yes, he could piss her off with words like the question he asked at the roller rink, but that was once in a blue moon. She could never be mad at him, though. He never really did anything wrong and he rarely pissed anyone off at all.

Except for Soul. She could see the tension between them. She was blond, not blind. Sure, she could be dense, but she noticed that Soul never really enjoyed having Crona around. She kind of understood that he was a little ticked that Crona had cut him open once, but that was back when she hadn't resonated with Crona and gave his oceanless beach a sea. If Maka hadn't gotten trapped against that door in the church in Italy, Soul wouldn't have gotten cut open. Maybe it was all her fault.

Who was she kidding. It was all her fault. She went into that church, but she had to see where all of those human souls had went within a second. But, she wouldn't have met Crona at all, well probably not until the Kishin got awoken. She probably would've let Black*Star handle him and then Crona wouldn't be here. The Kishin would've taken over the world and everything would be so different and madness would've engulfed everything and she and all of her friends would be dead and-

"Maka, are you okay? You look kind of sick," He said with concern. He probably saw her expression and that her eyes had glazed over in deep thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine.." She spoke softly with a smile. Her eyes didn't meet his and her smile fell as she tried to snap out of it.

And everything as she knew would be destroyed. It would be razed. Gone. Demolished. Obliterated. Terminated. Non existent. She finished her thoughts up with that happy note. If she hadn't met Crona, the whole world would have been sabotaged.

Maka didn't even realize that she was crying until Crona's hand came up and brushed her tear away.

"You're not okay, Maka. Tell me what's wrong. Please?"

"I was just thinking that if I hadn't met you, everything would have been obliterated. None of us would be here. I wouldn't have made a Death Scythe and I wouldn't have you.." She spoke so gently that it made Crona want to cry and she looked him right in the eye. "What on earth would I do without my best friend?"

Crona quickly pulled her into a hug. "Maka, stop thinking about what could have happened and think about what's happening now," he said against her head. Then, he kissed her forehead and Maka blushed. "Stop worrying about all that stuff Maka. There's nothing to worry about now." He pulled back and smiled at her. "I need to leave now before it gets too dark. I'll see you in school tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Crona." She hugged him and hesitated for a second before kissing his cheek. It felt so natural to do stuff like that.

And she liked it.

After he left, Maka kept thinking about what he said to her. Sure, Crona has never had any close relationships before her, but the guy was pretty damn smart.

He was right, she needed to stop worrying so much; she'd have gray hairs by 21. She didn't want gray hairs, so she decided to stop worrying so much. She'd start tomorrow, on Monday.

Maka could not wait to see Crona tomorrow. She had a lot of fun that day aside from the fact that she pretty much cried for no reason and probably looked like a lost kitten to Crona.

_Stop it, stop it, Maka. Stop worrying about people worrying about you. _Maka thought to herself. She just needs some sleep. _Let's try not to hit our head tomorrow in front of Crona, shall we, Maka?_

Her thoughts dragged on until she reached a weird, but at the same time, not weird question. _What if Crona was more than just her best friend?_


	8. Oh, Shit!

**Oh my fucking god.**

**This story is going to take me FOREVER.**

**Oh well.**

**Anywayyyyyyyyyyyyy.**

**2 weeks left for that project and I'm not even close to being done. I'm just stitting here, writing fanfiction.**

**Aren't I so responsible?**

* * *

Soul and Maka trudged tiredly through the long hallways of Shibusen. MAN, did Soul HATE Mondays. Well, he hated any days that were gloomy like Mondays. He especially hated the days when he and Maka were bitching at each other. It just made the day feel worse.

He'll admit that Maka doesn't always start the bickering, by when she does it's kind of stupid. If he said that to her, she'd start bitching at him.

Maka and Soul had always had a good partnership with a stable resonance that bested everyone in Shibusen. He knew his relationship with Jacqueline was throwing off their resonance and he knew Maka noticed that and so did Kid. No doubt she's already told Crona about how their resonance was tipping for some reason.

What has he done?

Maka and Crona's relationship never tipped off Maka and Soul's resonance, probably because of Maka's grigori soul, but he didn't understand why his relationship was affecting the resonance rate. They were too strong a team for stuff like that to happen. Maybe that's why it was happening, because they're so strong?

He really doesn't know and he really doesn't understand it. He would go ask Kid later.

He and Maka entered the classroom and sat in their seats, waiting for class to start. Soul noticed half of the guys in their class staring at them. Actually they weren't staring at _them, _they were staring at _Maka._ She didn't seem to notice because she was talking to Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, Kimial, and Jacqueline about tampons or some other shit girls like to talk about.

Then, Crona walked in. What took him so damn long? He lives in the school, after all.

He smirked at him with an unmistakable glare that only Crona could see. Crona returned it right back, if not even more. Crona took his seat on the other side of Maka and she hugged him and said something to him that Soul couldn't make out. He just shook his head and turned away towards Black*Star.

"Did ya get your tux for the dance, yet, Black*Star?" Soul questioned the blue haired mass of muscle.

"Yeah, Tsubaki made me! She said I had ta look 'presentable!'" Black*Star vocalized in distaste at Soul. "She made me get a tie and everything!"

"I can hear you, Black*Star," Tsubaki said without looking over at him.

"Hmph," Black*Star pouted. "What's your suit look like, anyway, Soul?"

"It's a pinstripe suit with a black tie. What does yours look like?"

"A great star like me doesn't have to tell you! You'll have ta wait 'n see for yourself!"

Soul just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Black*star. We can't wait to see a star as great as you in a regular tux like all the other guys."

"It's not just _any _tux! It's MY tux! Therefore, it's awesome!"

Soul sighed and then smirked. "Who are you going with, Black*Star?"

Black*Star stopped his ranting and just looked away with a weird look. Tsubaki did the same thing.

"Ohhh, I get it. You're taking your weapon, huh? Don't blame you for having feelings for someone like Tsubaki." He smirked at him and looked him dead in the eye.

"So what if I am? It's not wrong or anything. Did you expect for meisters and their weapons to not have feelings for each other?" Black*Star looked Soul in the eyes. "It's almost natural for them to."

"Not necessarily," Maka spoke up. "There are some cases where the meisters and their weapons do not have romantic feelings for each other, but it's kind of rare."

"How do you know that? You don't even know what love is, Maka," Soul told her.

"I do know what it is, Soul, I just choose not to think about loving people," She looked away, thinking about her mother and father. Most people knew her father cheated on her mother, but they didn't know how it had affected her.

She didn't want to love, to give her heart to someone who might break it. It's not that she couldn't love, it was that she was scared she wouldn't **be **loved.

Maka thought of being in a romantic relationship with Crona before, but she was afraid of what could happen if something really bad happened and her heart would be broken forever.

She was so caught up in her own feelings, she didn't even realize that Crona loved her back.

She was so fearful of being rejected by him and it would make things extremely awkward between them.

She sighed and picked up one of her books and began to read it. No one talked for a minute, but they slowly began to chatter again. Crona looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He had a questioning and concerned expression and he was about to ask her what she meant, but Stein rolled into the room, interrupting all thoughts, questions, and talking.

* * *

Finally, lunch came around. Maka and Crona sat together at a two person table. Maka hadn't really talked at all since this morning and Crona still wanted to know what she was thinking.

He sipped on his water in silence. Maka picked at her food. It was pretty peaceful just being there with Maka and no one else. Sadly, he really needed to know what she was thinking.

"H-hey, Maka... what were you thinking about earlier when you said that?" He asked her gently.

She looked up at him and sighed. "I'm just afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

She looked up at him and her eyes looked glassy. "I'm afraid that if I tried to love someone and I give my heart to them, they could break it and it would never be fixed. I don't want to repeat what my mother did.."

"Maka, you shouldn't be afraid of anything, especially not something like love. You don't even have to believe in it. You can just care very deeply, but you don't have to love if you're afraid of something like that. I-I know you'll find the right person eventually.." He glanced at her eyes, but looked down and stared at his food.

She stared at him dumbfounded. He really was smart. She didn't know what to say, so she just closed her mouth and continued to pick at her food.

* * *

When the school day was over, Soul told Maka to go home and that he needed to talk to Kid alone. Instead, she and Crona went to hang out in the park or some shit.

He padded to the Death Room and went inside.

"Kid, can I talk to you?" He asked as soon as he saw him.

"Of course you can, Soul. What is it that you wish to discuss?" Kid replied. He waved his arm and a table with two chairs appeared.

"It's about my meister and our resonance..."

"Oh. I see. I've noticed that your resonance it starting to slip, I am correct?"

"Yes.."

"Would you mind explaining why, Soul?"

"No.. I already know why.."

"Then tell me."

"You see.. I'm sorta kinda dating Jacqueline and Maka doesn't know.. soooo.. yeah."

"YOU FOOL! **SHINIGAMI CHOP!**" Kid smacked him with his bare hand and Soul fell to the ground with blood spurting out of the new indenture in his head.

"_**OW!**_ I get enough of those at home, thank you very fucking much!"

"You **IDIOT.** When you and your meister have a close bond and a strong resonance, you cannot just date someone else and not tell them! You are betraying their trust and you're throwing off resonance!"

"Soooo.. I'm guessing this is a no-no?"

"BIG no-no. You certainly don't HAVE to break up with Jacqueline, separate from Maka or tell her, but you can certainly stop being an idiot and look at the mess you've made!"

"What should I do?"

"Why, you're too deep now. I actually have no idea what you should do. You can stop being an idiot and think before you do, though."

"Sonuvabitch..."

"Give me until the winter dance to think about this, okay, Soul? You think about it too, Soul. I would try not to do anything suspicious around her thought. Don't do anything stupid- oh wait. You already did."

Soul shot a glare at him, but he had no argument. He was dumb and so impetuous. He was being lackadaisical, too. He hasn't done anything to fix this vexatious situation.

He just sighed and walked away and out the door.

What was he going to do?


	9. The Black Mass

**Hi there. I'm Jerry. Jerry the snake.**

**I heard y'alls callin' me. Just thought I'd slither fer y'alls.**

**SSSSSSTH. SSSSSSSSSSSSTH. SSSSSSSSSSSSTH.**

**JERRY, get the FUCK out of here!**

**I have a 3 day weekend now due to a 'snow day' YAY!**

**More fanfiction time for your smexy asses.**

**I promised plot twist for y'all motherfuckers, so here!**

* * *

"Before we go to the park, I need to get something from my locker. You can go on ahead of me, Crona. I'll be out in a few minutes," Maka reassuringly smiled at him.

"Okay, but hurry up!" Crona smiled back at her and walked towards the Shibusen exit. Maka walked to her locker which was a few hallways away, but it didn't take her long to get there.

She put in her combination and unlocked it. Then, she pulled out her purse and deposited her books into her locker. Maka felt someone's soul approaching and she didn't bother turning around because she knew this soul. She didn't like this soul either because it was a guy named Elliot.

Maka's locker slammed shut and she felt him behind her and she narrowed her eyes. She saw the tan hand on her locker and over shoulder.

"What the fuck do _you _want, Elliot?" Maka spat at him.

"Chill, beautiful. I just wanted to ask ya something," he smirked at her, noticing her hostility.

"Don't call me that and don't tell me to _chill. _What the _fuck _do you want anyway?" She glared at him.

"Language, little miss," He _tsked _at her which earned him a deadly glare. "Wanna go to the winter dance with me?"

"Hell no," She hissed as she began to walk away. He grabbed her arm before she had a chance to walk away.

"What's with all the belligerence?" He smirked stupidly at her.

"You know I don't fucking like you, so leave me alone. Plus, I'm going with someone already"

"Oh, come _on, _sweetheart. Who could be better a date than me?"

"Anyone who isn't you."

"No need to be so bitchy," Elliot gripped onto her arm tighter until it started to hurt.

"Stop that!" She attempted to rip her arm out of his hold, but he gripped it impossibly tighter. She yelped in pain.

"Just say you'll go to the dance with and I'll stop," he said maliciously. He was calm, but deadly.

She glared hatefully into his ice blue eyes. In a swift motion, she slapped him across the face with her free hand and the sound rang out through the empty hallways. He let go of her to hold his face in his hand.

"You little bitch!" He raised his hand to punch her and halfway through his punch, something caught his fist. It was a person.

"I don't think that such a good idea, **_don't you agree?_**" Crona scoffed.

Maka stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of her. It was like he dropped out of thin air.

Crona began to crush the blond boy's fist in his own. Elliot cried in pain as he dropped to his knees. Crona let go of his broken hand and kicked him all the way on the ground.

"You shouldn't hit a lady, especially since you put your hands on her first. She had every right to hit you, but you had no reason to. If you ever lay your hands on her again, I won't let you go so easily. _Now get the _**_fuck _**_out of my sight. I don't _**_ever _**_want to see you again,"_ Crona glared daggers at the cowering boy. Elliot got up quickly while crying and scrambled away.

Crona spun around to face Maka.

"Are you okay, Maka?" He asked her as he examined her.

"Yes, I'm fine, Crona. How did you-?"

"You've been in here for nearly fifteen minutes and I felt that something was wrong. I saw you cry out in pain and I saw you slapping him. When he raised his fist, I flashstepped over and grabbed his fist. I probably crushed almost every bone in his hand. I didn't mean to, but he looked like he deserved it," Crona clarified. He didn't mention that he saw Elliot asking her out to the dance because he was uneasy about it.

"Thank you, Crona," she said thankfully as she hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her immediately and smiled down at her.

"Anything for you, Maka." He rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes, drawing her closer.

* * *

**A Motherfucking Day Later**

"Maka, Shinigami-sama wants to see you," Stein said in the middle of first period. "He says that it's urgent."

Maka rose up from her seat and dashed to the Death Room.

As soon as she walked under the guillotine archways and she saw Kid, he ran right up to her.

"Maka, you know of the eight warlords, correct?" He questioned urgently.

"Yes, but 3 of them are in the book of Eibon they're unknown besides The Black Mass and Asura consumed another, right?" She asked.

"Yes, yes. You're right. The problem is that The Black Mass has escaped. He will consume people with the madness of power. That's what he vocalizes madness through- power," he paused with a woeful look on his face, "When I was in the Book of Eibon, he nearly consumed me with the madness of power. And since I am literally a piece of my father's soul, I have the madness of order. If I had gotten out of the Book, then I would've destroyed this world before Asura even got the chance to."

"Let me guess, you need me to help defeat him and put him deeper into the Book of Eibon?"

"Precisely. You, Crona, and the rest of the Spartoi unit must seek him out and defeat him, unless he decides to come to us."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Maka, do you have any idea what you'd be dealing with? This is one of the eight warlords. He has the same madness wavelength as Asura. He is just as dangerous. Do not fall subject to his madness of power. Like I said, I'm a Shinigami and he nearly consumed me. You _must _be careful."

"Do you have any idea on where his location might be?"

"Sadly, no, I do not. I need you to use your advanced soul perception to seek him out. That's going to be tricky, considering the fact the he can consume weaker souls with power and have them hide him until he is ready to kick the shit out of us in a asymmetrical manner. Always be prepared, Maka. You are dismissed, but don't forget to tell the rest of the Spartoi. And make sure no one besides the Spartoi know about this, okay?"

"I will make sure, Kid," she bowed stiffly.

"And if you have the slightest hint on his location, notify me immediately! **_BE CAREFUL, MAKA,_**" he said solemnly and waved in dismissal.

Maka turned on her heel and walked back to her class, which was about to let out.

_I hope Crona took notes for me, _she thought to herself.

* * *

After school, she called all the members of the Spartoi over to her house and told them about what Kid said.

No one said anything as she explained.

"What, so Crona saves the world from Asura and now we have to defeat **_another _**warlord?" Kim scoffed with rage. "This fucking **_sucks._**"

Kim summed it up pretty damn well because everyone, even Crona, nodded in agreement.

"How the fuck did The Black Mass get out of the Book of Eibon anyway?" Harvar queried.

"Kid didn't say, but I'd have to guess that someone let him out," Maka answered. "How else could he get out from being that deep in the Book?"

"Who could've done it?" Ox asked her.

"I'm not sure," Maka shook in her head in dismay. "but when I find out who did, I'm going to drop kick them."

Everyone nodded again in approval.

"Sadly, we need to find The Black Mass first and Kid has no idea where he might be."

"Well, Kid's father wasn't the only warlord. There's still Excalibur. Maybe we can ask him for input," Tsubaki said.

Black*Star and Ox's face got the most disgusted look. Black*Star said, "You guys can, but I sure as hell ain't gonna fuckin' talk to his stupid ass."

"I agree with him," Ox said.

"Is he really that bad?" Maka asked with a raised eyebrow.

"**YES!**" They yelled at her in unison.

"We need to ask him anyway, Black*star. Ox," She said directly to them. "We need to find out where he is and while we arrange to do that, I'll attempt to search for The Black Mass with my soul perception."

"What about the dance!?" Liz said is distress. Everyone looked at her. "What?" She said innocently. "We've all been looking forward to this dance all year. After all, this _is _our Senior year."

Everyone thought for a moment. Maka sighed and spoke up, "She's right, even though it sounds selfish, we need some type of stress reliever for one night. It's less than 2 weeks away. We can get plenty done if we try hard enough." Everyone nodded in approval once more.

"I agree with Maka," Jacqueline said. "We all need a night off after we do our best looking for the warlord. We need to have fun."

Maka and everyone else smiled at her.

Before everyone left, Maka agreed that she would try to look for him with her soul perception tomorrow. Everyone needed rest if they were to find The Black Mass.

* * *

_This should be fuckin' great! _Maka said sarcastically to herself as she crawled into bed. Soon enough, she was out cold and she was ready to find that motherfucker.


	10. A Resonating Problem

**How about that plot twist?**

**HUEHUEHUEHEUHEUEHEUHEUHEU.**

**I still have another one.**

**So don't get your knickers in a twist.**

**HUEHUEHUEHEUHEUHEUEHUEHUEHEHUEHUEHUHEUHEUEH.**

**Anyway, read on!**

**HUEHUEHEHUEHHEUHEUHEUHEUHEHEUHEUHEUHUE.**

* * *

Kid wasn't so much as upset that The Black Mass had escaped from the Book of Eibon; he was upset that the Spartoi, who already helped take down Asura, had to defeat another Warlord. Not just any Warlord- he was a Warlord who could and would envelope anyone in his madness, believing they had the power to defeat and rule everyone and everything.

If that type of madness got to anyone in the Spartoi unit, such as Crona or Maka, well... the whole world would be fucked.

You must be wondering why he only told Maka first, correct? This was because Kid thought that Maka would have taken it more seriously and easier than the others. He knew the others would be pissed that they'd have to fight another one of the eight Warlords. Maka could tell them and make it sound less stressful even though he knew that Maka would still be stressed with all of them bitching and moaning about it.

This was all a jumbled mess again and for once, Kid didn't know how to make it orderly again.

What would his father have done?

* * *

At this point, Maka was just about done listening to Excalibur's vain babbling and when he stuck his cane in her face for the last time, she nearly broke it half and it took Black*Star, Soul, Crona, and pretty much everyone else to hold her back from beating the shit out of the little bastard.

"**JUST FUCKING TELL US WHERE THE BLACK MASS MIGHT BE, GODDAMMIT!" **Maka yelled at him with fire blazing in her green eyes.

"FOOL. I have absolutely no idea where he is. But my legend dates back to the Twelfth century and-"

"**SHUT THE FUCK UP, EXCALIBUR!" **Maka screamed as they continued to restrain her.

"I think we ought to leave," Soul said and they all began to drag her out of the Death Room. Kid just watched them as they did it, not bothering to intervene.

* * *

Once they were away from Excalibur, Maka calmed down and they took a risk of letting her go. She stood right where she was.

"Black*Star, Ox, you were right. He is the most fucking annoying thing I've ever met, and trust me, I know you two," Maka concluded.

"What'd we tell you!" Black*Star said.

"Black*Star is the only annoying person besides Excalibur.." Ox pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right," Maka agreed.

"HEY!" Black*Star shouted out.

"Anyway, Excalibur was a dead end. What are we going to do now?" Crona spoke up.

"I guess soul perception?" Maka said.

* * *

Once everyone was outside, Maka called over Soul so they could resonate. Since Soul's piano was connected to everyone, she could find a lot of people and detect any source of madness.

"Soul resonance," they said in unison.

Maka was browsing everyone in the world like she was at a book store or something, when all of a sudden, their resonance was tipped and it broke.

Maka was on her knees and she had steam curling off her back.

"W-what the hell happened!?" She asked as everyone ran over to see if she was okay. Her breathing was uneven and her voice sounded scratchy.

"Maka!" Crona yelled as he ran over to her. He pulled off her white Spartoi trench coat and felt her back. "You're burning up. What DID happen?"

"O-our resonance just broke for some reason. It's happened before recently, but I've never had smoke coming off of my back," Maka explained as she slowly wilted to the ground.

Soul looked fine as he stood there, dumbfounded. Crona noticed that he and Jacqueline shared glances that were panicked. Maka's breathing was still rough and Crona carefully picked her up and ran down to the Dispensary with everyone close behind.

Maka's skin was still hot and he could feel the heat through her clothes. She took quick breaths and her pigtails bounced as he ran her down the hallways.

* * *

Once they were in the Dispensary, Crona laid her cautiously on one of the beds as Naigus came over to inspect her. Sweat dripped down Maka's forehead and she was shaking a bit.

"What happened?" Naigus asked as she clicked her pen and began to take notes on Maka's condition on her clipboard.

"She and Soul's resonance was thrown off somehow and she had smoke coming off of her back when it broke," Crona explained frantically.

Naigus carefully pulled up the backside of Maka's shirt and looked under it. Crona saw her bra strap and turned away, trying not to look.

"Her back is bright red. What the hell happened and why did there resonance get so thrown off?" Naigus rhetorically questioned to nobody in particular. "Crona, could you step behind the curtain for a minute and tell everyone else to leave the room?"

"Yes, ma'am," Crona said as he pulled the curtain shut behind him.

"It's okay Crona, we heard her," Tsubaki said with a faint smile as everyone besides him and Kimial Diehl, who was a Tanuki witch who specialized in regeneration magic, left the room. Kim stepped behind the curtain to see what happened to Maka and how she could help.

"AHHH!" Maka let out a cry of pain, but it soon turned into a sigh of relief. Crona guessed Kim used some magic on her and Naigus put on some ointment.

"Crona, can you come in here for a minute and explain more fully on what happened?" Naigus asked.

"Sure, Naigus-sensei," Crona said as he stepped onto the other side of the curtain. Maka's shirt was non-existent on her and she was laying on her stomach with all of her back exposed. Maka's eyes were half-lidded and it looked like she could care less who saw her right now. He noticed her frilly black bra strap and he quickly ripped his eyes away and he looked at Naigus.

"Well, Soul and Maka were resonating and they were trying to find The Black Mass, but all of a sudden, Maka collapsed on her knees and her back started smoking. She said that their resonance just broke. She also said it's happened before recently, but it was never this bad. Maka also started to sweat and her breathing was rugged, so I picked her up and ran her here and everyone followed," Crona explained in detail.

"Maka, honey, do you have any idea why your resonance stopped and broke?" Naigus asked the blond meister gently.

Maka shook her head slightly in a _no _and she stilled herself.

"Kim, do you have any idea why whatsoever?" Naigus asked the Tanuki witch.

"N-no. At least I don't think I do.." Kim said reluctantly. Her eyes darted to Maka. "Can I talk to you in private, Naigus?"

"Yes, especially if you have any idea on why this happened," Naigus confirmed. "Crona, will you watch Maka for a minute while Kim and I speak somewhere else?"

Crona nodded slowly as he took Kim's spot next to Maka. Naigus and Kim went out onto the balcony and shut the door behind them.

"C-Crona," Maka said gently. "Thanks you for taking me here."

"I-it's not a big deal, Maka. Your back had smoke coming off of it, so I thought someone had to take you here quickly. Everyone else was just staring at you," Crona said. Maka slowly moved her hand towards the edge of the bed and reached out to grab his. Crona went the rest of the way and clasped her warm hand in his own.

He felt pretty intimidated by the girl who was his crush in nothing but her underwear and skirt. He tried not to think about it so much.

"Why on earth did that happen?" Maka croaked. "It makes no s-sense.."

"I-I don't know.."

Maka opened her eyes all the way and looked him in the eyes.

"It's happened before, but I don't understand why." Her eyes began to water. "I-I don't get it.." A tear slipped down her cheek and Crona wiped it away.

"Don't cry, Maka. We'll find out why." Crona smiled lightly, but it slipped as Kim and Naigus walked back in. "Hey, Kim can I talk to you real quick? Sorry, Maka, but it's important."

"Sure," Kim said as she walked back outside.

"I'll be right back," Crona promised as he let go of her hand and walked outside and closed the door behind him. The cold air hit him, but he ignored it. "I think I know why their resonance slipped."

"Me too. It's because Soul and Jacqueline are dating, right?" Kim clarified.

"Y-yes, how did you know?"

"Because Jacqueline told me. So I'm guessing that Soul never told Maka and that's how this happened?"

"Y-yeah.. Poor Maka has no idea. I'm pretty sure she thinks that it's her fault. I could see it in her eyes.." Crona said forlornly.

Kim smiled at him. "You like her, don't you?"

Crona's eyes widened as he blushed and turned away. "N-no I don't."

"Yeah right, and I'm the pope," Kim teased. "Are you mad at Soul?"

"..." Crona didn't answer.

"I am, too. At least Jacqueline told me so our resonance wouldn't fall apart. Soul should've told Maka. They're a powerful team and since Soul never told her, it fucked shit up. God, no wonder why Maka 'Maka Chops' him so much. I would, too. Anyway, here's the deal. Either we get Soul to tell Maka or we have to tell her. Although I'm pretty sure she'd rather hear it from her own weapon, first."

"Okay, that seems like _such _a sturdy plan."

"I think you've been hanging around Black*Star too much." Kim smirked, but it fell. "When did you find out they were dating?"

_Oh, __**this **_should be _fun. _

"They same day I got my hair cut and stuff. When I was on my way to the bathroom, I saw them kissing on one of the balconies. They didn't even notice me as I ran away," Crona explained.

"How come you never told Maka or Soul that you saw that?"

"I-I thought it would've made Maka feel pretty damn bad to know that her weapon had a close relationship with someone else and that he never told her. I figured it had to of been going on for awhile now.."

"It has. Before Soul left for the moon, Jacqueline confessed to him that she liked him. I already knew that she liked him because we tell each other everything. Anyway, Soul said that if he came back alive, he'd be her boyfriend. He said he liked her too and that's how this all started."

"So, Soul says he likes your weapon and he doesn't tell his own meister who made him into a DEATH SCYTHE?"

"Yes. I'm extremely pissed at Soul, too, but he's not a bad guy. He's just an idiot who doesn't think stuff through before he does it. Let's go inside. It's pretty cold out here." Kim smiled at him as they walked back inside.

* * *

Crona sat back down and grabbed Maka's hand again. She opened up her eyes and looked at him.

"Your hands are cold," She smiled faintly and squeezed his hand a bit.

It was getting darker and darker outside.

"Maka, you'll have to stay here overnight, okay?" Naigus said.

"O-okay," she said unhappily.

"I'll be here in the building if you need me, Maka." Crona smiled at her reassuringly.

"W-will you stay here with me?" Maka asked pleadingly with big green eyes.

Crona looked at Naigus to see if it was okay, and she nodded _yes_.

"Sure," he smiled again at her as he pulled the covers over her. She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed steadily.

"If anything happens, call Kim or me," Naigus told him and she and Kim left the Dispensary. They dimmed the lights and closed the door as they left.


	11. I Should Tell You Something

**No Soul Eater on Toonami tonight. Oh well.**

**I'd rather write chapters for you guys, anyway.**

**Pfft.**

**I didn't want to watch Naruto or One Piece, either.**

**Pffffftttt.**

* * *

Crona was asleep in a rather awkward position in the chair next to Maka's Dispensary bed. At some point in the night, he let go of Maka's hand and now it hung at his side. His neck was bent forward and his knees were against his chest and he was curled up in the chair. Crona looked so peaceful. That was until Maka screamed.

**"AHHHHHHHHH!" **She screeched and she sat up in a cold sweat. She began to cry. Crona woke up immediately with wide, alert eyes.

"MAKA! WHAT HAPPENED!?" He asked frantically as he scrambled over onto her bed and hugged her tightly. He still looked half awake, but he came to rather quickly.

"I-I h-had a n-nightmare," Maka said through her tears.

"It's okay, it was just a dream. I'm here," Crona said comfortingly as he held her tighter. He suddenly realized she was still shirtless and he was hugging her. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He gently tried to detach himself, but she had him a death grip.

"D-don't g-go," She said pleadingly as she looked up at him with big green watery eyes.

"U-uh.. Maka.. do you want my sweater?"

It took her a second to realize what he was saying and her eyes widened as she shook her head.

"You'll have to let me go for a second so I can take it off."

She nodded again as she loosened her grip and let go reluctantly. Crona slipped off his gray sweater and put it on her. When it was all the way on, she hugged him again and wouldn't let go.

Again, Crona realized something. Maka only had her bra on under _his _sweater. He felt something almost possessive kick in as he hugged Maka a little tighter. He liked that thought though. She was wearing _his _sweater and he was holding her in _his_ arms. He liked that thought a lot.

Maka crawled onto his lap and buried her face into his neck. He felt her breathing slow down as she nuzzled into him. She began to breath slightly from her mouth and he felt her hot breath on his neck. He felt something wet on his lip and he realized it was blood that was coming out of his nose. He quickly wiped it away, careful not to wake her.

Eventually, he fell asleep with her.

* * *

Maka woke up in someone's arms. She remembered what happened last night very quickly and she saw that it was Crona who was holding her in his arms. She didn't want to move at all. It felt so nice to be in his arms. She glanced at the clock on the wall and it was only about 5 in the morning. She decided not to wake him at all until he wanted to wake up or someone else came in and woke him up.

She studied him gently. He seemed quite lazy in his sleep and he was breathing through his nose.

All of a sudden, Maka registered how thirsty she was. Her throat became dry after her resonance broke with Soul and she never asked for a drink of water. She seriously didn't want to move. She was so fucking comfortable, but she really needed some water.

She tried to pry his grip off leniently and she almost had him all the way off when he pulled her closer. Although his movements were lazy, he had her locked down.

"Mine..." Crona murmured in his sleep and pulled her against his body very firmly and he put his face on her head. She blushed and she didn't move a muscle. Instead, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth that emanated from his body. He smelt really nice to her. She remembered that she was wearing his favorite gray sweater which also smelt like him.

Once again, she drifted off to sleep very peacefully, ignoring her thirst.

She felt so safe.

* * *

When she woke up again, Crona was still asleep. The clock read 9:30. Crona's grip wasn't as strong anymore, so she quickly, but carefully, weaseled out of his grip and off of the bed. Why hadn't anyone woken her up and where was everyone?

To answer that question, Kim came out of one of the medicine closets. She was probably doing inventory.

"Oh, you're awake," Kim said when she saw Maka at the sink getting some water. "How was your little _nap _with Crona?" Kim teased as she wiggled her eyebrows with a smile.

"Oh _shut up,_" Maka said with a scarlet face. "I had a nightmare and I basically clung to him and kind of fell asleep on him."

"I see you're wearing his sweater." Kim wiggled her eyebrows again.

Maka blushed an impossible shade of red. "That's because no one put my shirt back on!"

"You could've put it on last night!"

"I was _asleep, thank you very much._"

"I bet you made him sleep with you, you rapist," Kim teased once more as she cracked up.

Maka walked up to Kim and Maka Chopped her.

"**_OW_**."

"You deserved it," Maka said with disdain as she turned away from Kim on her heel. "Hmph."

Kim rubbed her head and healed herself with regeneration magic. "So, how does your back feel?"

"It feels a lot better."

"I bet, since you slept with Crona," Kim said with a ridiculous smile.

Maka just scowled at her. "Can I _please _have some breakfast?"

"Sure, do you want some for your victim, too?"

"Yes, yes I do. Wait a second he's not my victim!"

Kim rushed off to go get them some breakfast and Maka heard Crona stir.

Crona was sitting up looking kind of dazed and half awake. He vaguely noticed her as he rubbed the sleep from his pale gray eyes. After he stretched, he turned his head towards her and looked at her. He saw that she was staring at him.

"What?" Crona asked asked sleepily.

"Nothing. Kim is getting us something to eat," she said with an adorable smile. "I hope you're hungry. You haven't gotten to eat anything since lunch yesterday."

"I am hungry. How are you feeling?"

"I feel a lot better. Kim's Tanuki magic works pretty well." Maka didn't really think that Kim's magic healed her entirely. "Sorry about that death grip last night.. I was just really freaked out."

"It's not a big deal. I understand. I used to get nightmares and I would grab onto inanimate objects and squeeze the life out of it." Crona got out of the bed and stood up straight as he stretched.

"I'll give you your sweater back after I wash it. It's really soft and comfortable, no wonder why you like it so much~."

"If you like it, you can keep it," He offered.

"But, this is yours."

"Well, it's yours now," He smiled at her as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Maka brought some of the fabric to her face and enjoyed the soft feeling of it brush across her face. It really was fleecy and soothing, especially since it was Crona's. She blushed at herself for thinking that. She didn't think it'd be weird at all to date him, but she wasn't sure if he'd freak out if she brought something like that up with him or if it would make everything awkward between them if she told him that she liked him.

She decided to call the sweater the 'Like Like' sweater, like from Adventure Time. It seemed to fit well. What? Naming sweaters wasn't weird. She saw a plastic bag sitting on one of the chairs and when she opened it, it had some of her clothes inside, including her hairbrush. She took out her hair ties and dragged the brush through her silky blond hair.

Crona came out of the bathroom and he saw that her hair was down. He rarely ever saw her hair down. Maka was face away from him, so he admired how shiny it was with the sunlight hitting it. Sadly, Maka turned around with a bag of her clothes. She went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

A few minutes later, Maka came back out wearing a simple pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and his gray sweater. Her hair was still down, so he resumed admiring it.

* * *

Finally, Kim came back with their breakfast of milk, bacon, toast, eggs, and waffles.

"Thanks, Kim," Crona said to her.

"Thank you, Kimial," Maka said with a smirk.

"Don't use my full name!" Kim pouted at her and walked away.

They ate greedily, enjoying every bite. Neither of them had eaten in nearly 24 hours. They ate in silence, enjoying the feeling of food in their stomachs again. However, Maka broke the silence.

"What should we do today since they practically let us skip school for no reason?" Maka asked the pink haired meister.

"I'm really not sure. I don't really think about that stuff until after school or on the weekends. What do you want to do?" Crona replied.

"Haha.. I'm not really sure either," Maka said as she bit into a piece of toast.

"Maybe we could just hang out somewhere. Anything is fine for me," Crona said as he smiled at her. "We could hang out at the park, the cafe, or your house, or whatever. You pick."

"I guess we could hang out at my house and we could watch a movie there or something. We won't be bothered by anyone until around 3 in the afternoon. It's only 10 right now, so we have quite a few hours."

Yes, Crona liked the idea of having Maka to himself again for a couple of hours.

"Sure. What type of movie do you want to watch?" He finally said.

"Not sure, but we can look through our movies or we can look through Netflix for a good movie."

"Okay."

* * *

When they finished eating, Maka packed up her crap and she thanked Kim and said goodbye. She was so fucking happy she got to leave the Dispensary. It was absolute hell for her to be in there, aside from the fact that Crona was there. She liked that part. A lot.

It was chilly outside, so she pulled Crona's sweater around her a little tighter. Crona didn't seem to mind the cold at all, although she thought he was pretending not to care about it since she was wearing his sweater. His favorite sweater. Now it was _her _favorite sweater. She inched a little closer as she walked next to him, hoping he wouldn't really notice. Crona reached out and grabbed her hand automatically, making her jump a little. She grabbed his hand back, enjoying his warmth once more.

But, this time holding his hand felt different. It gave her stomach butterflies and made her feel warm and fuzzy. She tried to ignore it as they continued to stride towards her apartment. Again, she inched a little closer until she was nearly right up against him. She blushed and jumped again when he brushed up against her. That's when she tripped.

_ OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHITTTT!_ She thought as she fell, but she never hit the ground. Her eyes were shut tightly until she opened one of them as she stared at the ground. Crona's hand was around her waist as she blushed even more as he pulled her up.

"Whoa, be careful, Maka," Crona said as he made sure she was okay.

"T-thank you," she said looking at the ground. She continued walking forward. "It wouldn't have been very good if I hit my face on the ground," Maka finished as she laughed nervously.

"You're welcome," Crona replied with a confused look as she walked a few steps in front of him. Crona went to reach for her hand, but she pulled out her keys and held them in her left hand, the hand he was going to hold. He pursed his lips, but he said nothing. They just kept walking until they were inside Maka's building and at her apartment door.

She placed the key in the key hole and turned it and she entered her home. She was greeted by a purple cat that jumped onto her shoulder.

"Maka! Bu-tan missed yew~!" Blair mewled and she purred on Maka's shoulder. "You've brought a friend~! Nyaa~!"

"I missed you too, Blair," Maka said giving that cat a scratch under the chin. Blair purred louder in response.

"Sadly, Bu-tan has to go to work." Blair jumped off of Maka's shoulder and turned into a human with rather skimpy clothing. Maka was used to it as she hugged the cat woman. "Blair won't be back until late, so keep your hands to yourself, mister~!" Blair said to Crona as she pinched his cheek and walked out that door, shutting it behind her. Crona blushed and turned his head away from Maka as he walked into her kitchen.

"So, uhh.. I didn't get a chance to tell you this earlier, but Kid is going to allow me to have my own apartment," Crona said trying to erase the awkwardness of the situation.

"Really? That's awesome~!" Maka said in response as she began to get out a water bottle. She opened it and took a drink of it. Then, she replaced the cap and set the bottle down. They just looked at each other for a few minutes without saying anything.

"So, what do you want to watch, Crona?" Maka asked him, turning away. She sauntered into the living room and sat on her knees in front of their movie collection. Crona walked over and sat criss-cross next to her.

He studied them for a minute until he saw one that he might like. It said 'Role Models.'

"How about this one?" He decided. He pulled it off of the shelf.

"Sure. That's one of my favorites," Maka said as she took it from his hands gently. She crawled over to the DVD played and put the disc in. She fast-forwarded through the advertisements and trailers until it got to the selection screen. She hit play.

Crona stood up and walked over to her. He picked her up and set her on the couch as he flopped down right next to her.

* * *

After that they watched that movie, they decided to watch 2 more and an episode of Doctor Who. (Soul got Maka into it and Maka got Crona into it).

At this point, Maka was practically sitting on Crona's lap. She was leaning on his chest while watching the TV from the corner of her eye. Her head was resting on his shoulder, but he didn't mind. She felt his chest rise and fall and she could hear his heartbeat. Maybe she should just tell him already. It seemed almost like the perfect time. They were calm and close and he seemed to like her back. Maybe she should. She would. Right now.

"U-um.. Crona. C-can I tell you something?" She whispered.

He looked down at her. "You can tell me anything." He smiled warmly at her.

"I need to tell you that.. I-I umm-"

She heard the door unlock. She glanced at the clock which read 3:15. She rolled her eyes and got off of Crona lazily.

"I'll tell you another time.." She said disappointed.

It'd have to wait.


	12. The Heart in the Soul

**Oh my God, I'm tired as fuck.**

**But I'll still write for you.**

**Feel free to follow me on Tumblr at .com**

**Most of my blog is Soul Eater related things, so go ahead and check it out if you want.**

**Shank you.**

**The Winter dance draws exceptionally close.**

* * *

Kid practically begged the Spartoi unit to go to an awesome club party. He seemed quite worried about them for working so hard on trying to find The Black Mass, especially Maka. Her resonance with Soul hadn't gone haywire at all, but it took a lot of her energy and it was running her into the ground. She needed a few days off. Everyone did.

The club was for people 16-21, which were people who were under the age of drinking and capable of themselves. There was to be no alcohol at this club. None.

They happily agreed, except for Maka. She really didn't want to take a break; she wanted to find that motherfucker and shove him back into the Book of Eibon. But first, she wanted to Maka Chop the shit out of him.

Kid actually made her go to the party. He said that he would take her down from the top of her class. A cruel punishment, yes, but she needed a break.

* * *

Maka sighed at her reflection in the mirror. She was all dressed up for this club party she really didn't want to go to, but Crona was going, so she hoped it would be fun.

Her hair was up in a loose style with curled strands framing her face. She was wearing a tight purple dress and simple black pumps. Her makeup was pretty simple; smoky eyeshadow with some eye liner and mascara. To top it off, she had on a silver necklace with matching earrings and a bracelet.

She stepped out into the hallway and she sashayed into the living room. The whole Spartoi was waiting in the living room so they could all leave together. They all looked at her.

"You guys ready to leave?" She said unenthusiastically. They all nodded as they stood up and ambled out the door. Crona waited for her as everyone else walked out the door. She strolled over to him and stopped when she was right next to him.

Purple was his favorite color. If he didn't have Ragnarok to help him control his blood flow, he probably would've popped one right then and there. The dress was so short, too...

"I don't think it'll be that bad, Maka. We all need a break, especially you. You looked like you were going to cut us all in half with Soul," Crona said to her.

She sighed. "I suppose you're right. I felt like I was going to knock the shit out of everything. I'll try to have fun. Hopefully, the winter dance will be fun, too," Maka smiled a little.

"I don't doubt the winter dance will be better than this party. We don't have to stay for long, if you don't want."

"Haha, good. I don't plan on staying all night long. I still want to have some energy for the dance," Maka smiled brightly at him. It made him feel warm inside to get a smile like that from her. "Let's go."

* * *

When they arrived, all Maka could think of was how _loud _it was. You could feel vibrations in the air from how loud it was. Hell, Maka practically felt the ground trembling underneath her. Of course, Black*Star was the first to enter screaming "YOUR GOD IS HERE," and "SUP BITCHES."

Maka rolled her eyes. She and Crona were the last ones to step into the club. Out popped Ragnarok. What do fucking expect when he's at a party full of half-naked chicks?

"**Damn! I like high school girls; they barely dress! FOOD! CRONA. GET ME **_**FOOD**_**," **Ragnarok demanded.

"Not right now Ragnarok, you just ate!" Crona yelled over the music.

**"FEED ME, GODDAMMIT." **

"No!"

**"FEED. ME. YOU LITTLE FAG-"**

** "MAKA **_**CHOP!**_**" **Maka brought down a _very _heavy book on Ragnarok's head. He immediately disappeared into his meister's back. "If he comes out again, I'll hit him harder!"

"Thank you, Maka!" Crona shouted again.

Maka already wanted to leave. She couldn't stand the noise level or the half-naked girls pelvic thrusting against walls and trapped males. It's like they twerked on everything that moved or breathed.

She quickly reached out and grabbed Crona's hand. She pulled him over to a long u-shaped couch where Tsubaki, Black*Star, Soul, Jacqueline, Kim, and Ox were sitting. Everyone noticed them as they all slowly got up and went out onto the dance floor. Maka raised an eyebrow at them for just leaving like that. She suddenly felt apprehensive; like something bad was going to happen.

She figured it was just her nerves, so she just ignored it and tried to have some fun and unwind.

* * *

Elliot handed a small packet to the bartender and slipped him a 20.

"You see that girl over there in the purple dress?" Elliot said pointing at Maka talking to Crona. The bartender nodded. "When she comes over for something to drink, put that in there. I'll give you another 20 later after you do it." With that, he walked away.

* * *

Maka was getting very thirsty after 2 hours of dancing and talking to people. Go figure. She felt a little better dancing her stress away. She licked her lips in attempt to wet them as she went over to the bar. The bartender saw her and went over to the part of the bar that she was at.

"What can I get for you, miss?" He said to her.

"Can I please have a Shirley Temple? And may I have a few extra cherries at the bottom?" Maka asked sweetly. She loved cherries almost as much as she loved Crona. She froze mentally thinking about what she just thought.

"Sure. Just give me a second," He smiled falsely at her as he turned around, preparing her drink. Luckily for him, Crona came and sat down next to Maka as another tender took care of him. While the blond girl was distracted, he slipped the powder into the red liquid and stirred it. It dissolved completely. He quickly put 4 cherries in the drink and handed it to Maka.

"Thank you," she said with a kind smile. He felt kind of guilty, but money was money. He froze a little when she took a drink, but she obviously suspected nothing.

Maka grabbed the drink and she pulled Crona along with her as they went back over to the couch like nothing ever happened.

* * *

After a few minutes, Elliot returned and slapped down another 20 in front of him and walked away. The bartender caught a smirk on the boy's face, but it was only a glance.

_Whatever. _The bartender thought.

* * *

Maka finished off the last of the sweet red cherries. Then, she downed the remaining crimson liquid. Once, more, she dragged Crona onto the dance floor with the blaring music and under dressed teenagers.

Thank Shinigami though, because a slow song came on. To her surprise, Crona acted first. He slipped his arms around her waist and she put her arms around his neck. She probably was as red as her Shirley Temple. For once in that night, she could actually hear him talk to her with a normal voice. Her voice was kind of strained from screaming over the music, so thank fuck.

Except, she couldn't hear him when he spoke. It sounded kind of blurred. She suddenly felt trippy and nauseous. She gently pulled away from Crona.

"I-I need to use the bathroom," She said as said squeezed his hand and pulled away. He looked a little disappointed that they wouldn't get to finish their slow dance, but he understood that her bladder was probably about to bust.

As soon as she was in the bathroom, she used the toilet quickly. Her head was swimming. She needed to get out of here. _Now. _

As fast as she could, she stumbled out of the bathroom and someone caught her as she tripped. They definitely were _not _Crona's arms. She detected the wavelength as Elliot. She tried to pry herself out of his iron grip, but it was nearly impossible.

Even in her stupor, she could see his brain-dead smirk and the lustful look in his eyes. She hated him even when she could barely stand. She eventually got a leverage and punched him in the face unrelentingly. He loosened his grip a little, but held her tightly. She kicked and flailed for what seemed like forever. He wouldn't let her go. She felt water going down her cheeks and she heard herself screaming, but no one could hear her over the deafening music. No one could help her.

He began to drag her towards the exit, desperately trying not to get noticed with a thrashing, squealing, and crying girl that was now half awake in his arms. Talk about setting off alarms and shit. He attempted to clamp his hand over her mouth, but she bit the shit out of it.

"You **BITCH!**" He bawled as he continued to drag the scythemeister behind him. Tears continued to roll down her pretty face.

* * *

Crona felt something was wrong. He went over to the bathrooms asking if anyone saw a blond girl in a tight purple dress. He went over to ask the bartender. That's when he felt her wavelength. They had a strong connection. He felt something distressed about her wavelength though. It was panicked.

He began to panic himself. He turned in circles looking desperately for the girl with bright green eyes.

* * *

Maka kicked at the boy who now had her outside and he was dragging her roughly on the cobblestone road. He didn't make it very far until he let down his guard for less than a second. Maka got a sudden, vicious burst of energy as she kicked him in the nuts. Oh, did it fucking hurt. The girl began to crawl away in a daze as he quickly recovered and tackled her. She elbowed him and writhed underneath his strong grip.

All of a sudden, the door flew open, detecting the disoriented screams of Maka.

Crona had a very frighting and murderous look in his eye as he noticed Elliot pinning down Maka. Elliot nearly shit himself as he quickly scrambled away from Maka. He began to run.

Crona was _much_ faster.

The Demon Sword meister grabbed the boy by the back of his head and repeatedly smashed his face into the ground. Then, he pulled Elliot up by his collar and smashed his back into a wall.

Elliot spit up deep crimson blood. He had tears in the corners of his eyes.

"**WHAT THE **_**FUCK **_**DID I TELL YOU!? I TOLD YOU NOT TO FUCKING TOUCH HER!" **Crona shouted directly into the boy's bloodied face.

"P-please s-stop. I-I'm s-sorry, man. I-I w-won't e-ever l-look o-or t-touch her a-again," Elliot coughed up some more blood.

"**HOW MANY TIMES DID MAKA TELL YOU TO STOP!?" **Crona slammed the boy into the wall again. "**DID YOU FUCKING STOP!?" **

He continued to slam him mercilessly into the wall until the boy was on the brim of unconsciousness. "**You're lucky that I'm not going to kill you. If you **_**ever **_**lay a finger, look at, or talk to her, **_**I'll fucking kill you.**_** Understand?**"

The boy nodded violently with wide eyes full of fear.

_**"UNDERSTAND!?"**_ Crona slammed the boy against the wall once more.

"Y-yes.." Elliot spoke in a whisper. Crona let go of his collar and let him slump to the ground, motionless.

Crona spun around quickly, scooping up Maka in his arms. Her eyes were half lidded and she was almost unconscious. He picked her up bridal style and dashed to her apartment. She clung to his neck the whole time with tears streaming down her rosy cheeks.

* * *

Once he was inside her apartment, he kicked open the door to her room and set her on her bed.

She sat up, dazed.

"C-Crona.." She mumbled as she looked at him, eyes glazed. She stood back up unsteadily while Crona had a puzzled look on his face. He was still trying to calculate what happened. He got wrapped up in thought as he sat on Maka's bed.

Maka stripped off her purple dress in a flash and kicked off her heels. She stood there next to him in nothing but a black strapless bra and matching panties. She was so tired. She just wanted to curl up with Crona, right now. While he was still distracted with thought, she sat on him. She was facing him. Crona jerked out of his thought as Maka hugged him. He didn't even notice the short purple dress on the floor.

He lazily hugged her back, but he felt his hands on her bare back. He glanced down at the ground and saw her dress and heels. They were _not _on Maka. His eyes widened and he tensed immediately.

"You're comfy, Crona," Maka said tiredly. She pressed her almost bare body against him. Black blood began to trickle out from his nose.

"M-Maka.. w-what are you doing..?" He asked her nervously.

She just hugged him tighter and buried her face into his neck.

Was it hot in here, or was it just him? His breath hitched and he tensed up even more. It was getting harder to breathe and his pants felt tighter. His breathing became uneven as Maka began to straddle him.

This wasn't fair to her, though. Here she was drugged up and he wasn't stopping her. He pried her off reluctantly and he looked her in the eyes. They still looked pretty starry.

"Crona.. don't you like this though?" She smiled daftly at him. Yes, he did like this, but she wasn't completely there with him. He didn't want her to do something she might regret, so he gently picked her up and off of him.

"Maka.. I don't want you to do something that you might not actually want to do. It's not fair.." He looked her deep in the eyes and it looked like she understood even though she tilted her head gently.

He forgot about the blood gushing out his nose until Maka pointed at it. He quickly wiped it away with the back of his black sleeve. She touched his cheek and hugged him and then kissed his cheek. Her lips lingered there for a few seconds and it was heavenly for him. He wanted to faint. Instead, he went to one of her drawers and opened the one with her pajamas in it.

He found some sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt. He handed them to her, but she just looked at them confused. She blinked at him.

Oh god. She needed help. He sighed as he nervously slipped the pants around her ankles. He picked her up gently so they would go around her tiny waist. Again, more blood came from his nose, but he wiped it away once more. He frantically pulled her shirt over her arms and it fell over her torso. Without a second thought, Maka reached under the backside of her shirt and unclasped her bra. His jaw dropped as she took it off and tossed it on the ground next to her dress.

He turned around to walk away, but Maka caught his wrist.

"Stay with me," She whimpered with her big green puppy dog eyes. How could he say no?

He sighed again and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled out the hair clip that held up her hair and set it on her nightstand. He ushered her into the bed and fell into it with her still in his arms. Then, he pulled the blanket up to their chins as Maka snuggled up next to him.

Within minutes, Maka was asleep.

He kissed her forehead gently as he allowed sleep to engulf him as well.


	13. My Flawless Angel

**Snow day, motherfuckers!**

**Now, kids, never EVER PROCRASTINATE.**

* * *

Maka finally began to stir. As soon as her senses woke up, she caught the familiar scent of Crona. Her eyes flew open, recalculating the events of last night. She sat up immediately, hoping it was a dream.

She gently crawled over him and stood up. She facepalmed herself when she saw her dress, shoes, and bra on the ground.

_I must have scared him shitless. _She thought. Maka gathered up the discarded articles of clothing and shoved them in her dirty clothes hamper. Her eyes widened as she looked down at her expected naked body, but she saw clothes hanging off of her. _Crona must have put them on me.. what the hell would I do without him?_

Maka looked back at him for a moment. Crona looked so adorable when he was sleeping. Actually, he always looked adorable. Finally, she turned around and went into the kitchen.

She began to make pancakes, bacon, eggs, and cinnamon toast. She liked cinnamon toast; she hoped Crona would, too. She made a lot of extra food for Ragnarok because he'd probably bitch at her about it. She began to put plates together when she realized that there was a wavelength missing from the house.

She tapped on Soul's door and peeked in. His bed was empty. He must not have returned last night. He'd be back later anyway to get ready for the dance.

Then, she looked into her room at Crona. He was sitting up and he caught her eye.

"Foooooooooooood.." He mumbled, smelling the aroma of grease, cinnamon, butter, and syrup. He sluggishly pulled himself up and he walked towards Maka. "Makaaaaaaa.." Crona hugged her idly and wouldn't let go.

"I'm sorry about last night; I probably freaked you out, didn't I?" Maka said disdainfully.

Crona froze for a second while still hugging her. He stood straight up, running through the events of the night before. Then, he hugged her even tighter. "It's alright Maka. You didn't scare me.."

Then what _did _she do to him? How did she make him feel? Nervous, maybe? She blushed deeply at the thought of making him nervous or even slightly aroused. She pushed him off as gently as she could and turned around rapidly as she stumbled into the kitchen.

Crona grabbed one of the plates of food before she could bring it to him. Ragnarok popped out and grabbed the one that had the most food on it.

**"Fuck yeah! Thanks, you stupid cow!" **Ragnarok scarfed down the food. He ate like such a pig.

Crona just rolled his eyes as he sat down. "Thank you for breakfast, Maka," He smiled genuinely at her as he began to cut his pancakes.

"It's not a big deal, especially over what happened last night," She said while staring at her glass of milk.

Crona set his fork and butter-knife down and looked her directly in the eyes. "Maka. I told you that it wasn't a big deal. That little fucker Elliot probably slipped something into your drink. It's really not your fault that those drugs or whatever made you act like that," He said almost bitterly. The truth was, he wanted to believe that she wanted to do that, but he couldn't give himself false hope. She could have just about anyone she wanted, so why would she want someone like him?

Maka didn't say anything. She brought her knees to her chest while sitting on the chair. She just stared at her breakfast. It was silent besides Ragnarok's obnoxious chewing, swallowing, and belching. Crona just kept staring into Maka's eyes. Usually he was the one to avoid their shared eye contact.

He finally just sighed. "Maka, please eat your food. We have a long day ahead of us." Crona realized the fact that he was taking her. He totally forgot until he said that. _Us._ He liked that term whenever it involved him and Maka. Slowly, she untensed and put her feet back on the ground. She picked up her fork and knife and began to pick at her breakfast. He picked up his own utensils and ate his buttery pancakes, chewy bacon, tasty toast, and sunny-side-up eggs.

Ragnarok was done first. No fucking shit, Sherlock. Crona finished second and Maka finished shortly after he did. Before Maka could protest, Crona whisked her dish away and set it in the sink and began to wash the dishes.

"Crona, you know that I could've gotten that," Maka said somewhat irritated.

He chuckled at her and said, "Don't the Thompson's have plans for you. They're going to be here any minute. It's already noon."

"Did we really sleep that late? I didn't even realize that."

"We sure did. You might want to change before they get here and drag you to their manor."

"It doesn't really matter. They're going to strip me down and remake me anyways, so I could care less about what I look like right now," Maka smiled at him. "Thank you for doing the dishes, by the way."

"No problem, Maka."

With that, Maka retreated to her bedroom. There was a knock on the door as Crona opened it and saw a set of blond twins at the door.

"Hiya, Crona!" Patty shouted gleefully.

"Hey, Crona. Where's Maka?" Liz asked as she peeked over his shoulder. "We need to get her ready for the dance tonight."

"Hey guys. Maka'll be out in a minute. She's probably getting her stuff together," Crona explained to the Thompsons. Liz and Patty walked around him and let themselves inside the apartment.

Liz walked over to Maka's door and opened it. "Hurry your ass up, Maka! We only have a few hours!"

"I'm done, Liz. Let's get this over with," Maka said dreadfully as she threw a bag over her shoulder. She had a hanger that had a dress cover on it. Crona couldn't wait to see what she was going to wear. "I'll see you later, Crona," She smiled as she tossed her keys to him. "Lock up for me," She winked at him as she followed Liz and Patty out the door. She shut it swiftly behind her.

* * *

As soon as Maka walked through the door to the Gallows Manor, she was ushered to a bathroom where she was stripped to her underwear.

"Take off your underwear and get into that bathtub. It smells like you haven't take a bath since yesterday," Liz ordered as she and Patty turned around.

"That's because I haven't," Maka grumbled as she slipped off her silky undergarments. She slid into the tub as Patty turned around and ran over to her side. She pulled out a lava rock and Maka immediately tried to get out. Liz held her by her shoulders as Patty began to rub her raw with the rock.

Maka thrashed with comments like, "STOP! OW, PATTY!" and "ARGH! YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU PROMISED IT WOULDN'T HURT!"

"I DIDN'T PROMISE ANYTHING~!" Patty yelled in response. "HYAHYAHYAHYAHYA~!"

* * *

After another 15 agonizing minutes of being scrubbed to death by that stupid rock, she got shampoo dumped on her head. Liz washed her hair thoroughly and rinsed it out, nearly drowning the poor scythemeister. Then, Liz conditioned her hair and repeated the drowning of Maka Albarn.

Finally, they pulled Maka out of the tub and dried her off. They wrapped a robe around her to dry her skin and slathered a face mask on her.

"Is this really necessary?" Maka complained as the Thompsons washed themselves off so they could get ready too.

"Yes, it is Maka. Your skin is going to be so soft and Crona won't be able to keep his hands off of you!" Liz teased her.

She felt the blood rush up to her face and she thanked Shinigami that she had a face mask on. "How the hell-"

"He was in your house Maka. And have you ever seen the way he looks at you and how he interacts with you? It's the same way that Ms. Marie looks at Stein," Liz explained to her. "You feel the same way towards him, don't you?" Liz smirked at her.

"I-I do not! W-we're just friends!" Maka said. "That's all we'll probably ever be.." Maka barely said the last part. She became a little depressed until Liz pulled herself out of the tub and wrapped a robe around herself. Liz came over to Maka and wiped the face mask off with a hot towel.

"You can be a very bad liar like he is. Stop being so dense, Maka. Crona like likes you!" Liz then picked up a bottle of lotion and handed it to Maka. "Rub this stuff all over you, okay? When you finish with that, we'll do your hair and makeup." Maka glanced on the clock which read 2:30. The dance started at 5 and she wanted to be there for the whole thing.

Maka nodded as she began to coat herself in the sweet smelling lotion. It dried quickly and left her skin silky-smooth. She walked over to the bag she brought with her and slipped on some new underwear. It was a white strapless bra and lacey white panties. Maka dropped her towel and slipped the articles on her body.

* * *

Liz and Patty had finished slapping on lotion as well and they escorted her to another room. It was a room dedicated to clothing and makeup.

The twins sat her down in a chair and they set off to work on her hair. They heated up a curling iron. While they waited for it to heat up, they began to work on their own hair. Maka closed her eyes and rested her head on the vanity in front of her. The chair was comfortable and she began to relax and recover from the harsh scrubbing of the lava rock.

Her skin was still tinted pink from the rough surface of that dumb rock, but it didn't hurt anymore to touch. She fell asleep right there while listening to the comforting sounds of the Thompson sisters shuffling about the room.

She woke up with Patty and Liz towering over her as they shook her awake. Maka sat up as the girls began to curl her hair. They used as little hairspray as possible so it looked more natural.

When they finished, it tumbled down her shoulders and back almost perfectly. She liked it. Without wasting any time, Liz began to work on Maka's makeup as Patty worked on her own makeup.

Eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara. She watched herself transform as Liz and Patty switched places frequently so they could get their own makeup done. It was already 4:15.

They turned her chair around so she would be surprised when they finished it.

When they _did _finish it, it was 4:42.

Slowly, they turned her chair back to where Maka was facing it with her eyes closed.

"Open your eyes~!" Patty and Liz sung in unison.

So she did. She caught her breath. Yes, she recognized herself, but she looked a lot different with makeup. It was probably because she didn't wear makeup that much. But damn! Makeup was a scary thing. Maka really hoped that Crona would like it.

For the last time, Liz and Patty hauled her onto her feet. They carefully unzipped the dress cover and took the glimmering article off of the hanger. Then, they slowly helped Maka into it.

They turned her so she facing a full body mirror. Liz and Patty were almost crying.

"Oh, Maka.. you look gorgeous~!" Liz said to her.

"Yeah, Maka! You look amazing~!" Patty added.

"Thank you all so much. You made me look so pretty. You guys should be professional makeup artists~!" Maka thanked them with enthusiasm.

There was a ring at the door.

"That must be him, Maka~! Oh, he's going to absolutely die~!" Liz squealed excitedly at her.

Patty clipped a silver necklace around Maka's throat. It tied everything together perfectly. Finally, Maka slipped her feet into some silver strappy heels. She nearly tripped and broke her face when she first tried them on.

Patty and Liz took either one of Maka's arms and guided her to the door. Crona was waiting inside by the door. The blond twins hid Maka behind them when they were in Crona's view.

Crona looked up at them, waiting for them to part so he could see his angel.

He was wearing a simple black dress suit with a gray collared shirt. The tie was a bluish-purple color. The suit fit him well and it showed how tall he really was. Whenever Maka hugged him, her head only came up to his shoulder. His hair was spiked and it looked like someone helped him. It was probably Ms. Marie.

All at once, the Thompsons stepped aside from Maka, revealing her. Crona just stared at her with his mouth open. The dress showed her entire right leg, stopping a few inches below her pelvic bone. Her lips were as red as cherries and they were glossy and he had a sudden urge to know what they tasted like. Maka had white eyeshadow that looked like it had glitter in it and eyeliner that made her eyes look huge. His heart nearly stopped when she started moving towards him.

Maka's dress looked like a white shimmering mirage as she continued to stride over to him. He prayed that Ragnarok would keep his blood flow in check as he felt her arms wrap around him. He snapped out of his daze and hugged her back. Her skin was really _really _soft.. What on earth did they do to her?

"Are you ready to go, Crona?" Maka asked him as he continued to stare at her. She was so hypnotizing.

"Y-yes," He said. He almost forgot. He pulled out a rose from behind his back and handed it to her. "For you."

She smelt it and smiled at him. The rose was a red as her luscious lips. "Thank you, Crona." She took his arm and walked arm-in-arm with him.

Was he dreaming? No. No he wasn't. He still couldn't believe that he was going to the dance with someone like her. He wanted to slap himself to see if this was seriously a dream. With his arm still encircled with Maka's, he reached over and pinched himself.

Definitely _not _dreaming.

Maka's dress looked like a ton of tiny diamonds that were sewn together. Crona looked at her from the corner of his eye. He looked at her lips and imagined what it would be like to feel them against his own.

A guy can dream. And he certainly does.


	14. Chocolate, Sugar Cookies, and Mints

**I came in like a wrecking ball.**

**Haha. No.**

**I no like Miley Cyrus.**

**FLUFF!**

* * *

Soul and Jacqueline were already at the dance. They were waiting for the rest of the Spartoi to arrive, but so far, Jacqueline, Kim, Ox, Harvar, and himself were the only people from the Spartoi unit there. These were the only people in the squad that knew about Jacqueline and Soul's relationship. No one has said anything about it and no one has told Maka. Kim looked at Soul disapprovingly as she turned away and began to talk to Ox.

He just ignored it and danced with his Jackie.

Out of nowhere, everyone just about snapped their necks when they saw Crona and Maka walk in. Most of the guys that were there were practically drooling as Maka walked past them with her arm in Crona's.

"Hey guys~!" She said excitedly.

They all just stared.

"MAKA! You look wonderful!" Kim said as she ran over to greet her.

"You look outstanding, Kim~!" Maka replied.

Some random guys came up and patted Crona on the back for his lovely date.

"**YOUR GOD IS HERE!"** A certain blue-haired assassin shouted as he entered with Tsubaki at his side. "**YOUR QUEEN IS HERE AS WELL!" **Black*Star yelled as he pointed at his Camellia Blossom. Maka ran over to hug Tsubaki as they chatted for a second.

Everything was hectic already. The party was just beginning, too.

* * *

Everyone looked amazing to Maka. She gave out as many compliments as she could. She loved dances specifically so she could check out what type of styles and colors everyone liked.

Other guys kept asking her to dance with them, but she grabbed Crona by the arm and smiled and walked away. In a way, it pissed her off that guys all of a sudden took notice of her because she had makeup on and she was all dressed up. She clung to Crona's arm as much as she could.

Crona saw Elliot looking at him nervously and he shot him a deadly glare. The blond guy turned around and rushed away. Elliot had a bandage over his nose and a huge bruise on his cocky face. He wasn't smirking at all today.

Out of absolutely nowhere came Maka's father who seemingly materialized in front of them.

"Keep you hands to yourself!" Spirit yelled at Crona as he pried the meisters apart.

"Maka _**CHOP!**_" Maka brought down a heavy book on the man's cranium. He fell to the ground with a indenture in his thick skull. It was gushing blood.

Maka reached over and grabbed Crona's hand as they sidestepped around the unconscious Death Scythe.

Crona and Maka wandered over to the dessert table. Maka picked up a small brownie and bit into it happily. Crona picked up 2 sugar cookies that were shaped like Christmas trees. They went and sat down at a small table in the corner of the massive room.

They nibbled on their snacks while talking about really random shit like Pegasi and whatever the fuck their conversation led to. Then, they began talking about actual Christmas day and Crona had a fantastic idea.

He wanted to give Maka her present right now. It would look perfect on her.

"Hey, Maka. I have a surprise for you. Wait right here. I'll be back in 5 minutes. If I don't come back within that time, come and find me," He let the last piece of his cookie hang out of his mouth as he got up and winked at her before he turned around and walked away. She blushed as she watched him walk away. He had a pretty nice ass for a guy. She mentally slapped herself.

He really did have a nice ass though. ***Mental Slap***

She waited patiently for him, but he didn't return. She started to feel a little worried, so she got up and looked around for him.

* * *

Crona was in his room acting out how he would give her the gift. He wasn't paying attention to the time. He just seemed to get even more nervous with every passing second. He didn't think about how he was to present the bracelet to the girl of his dreams. What if she didn't like it? What if she rejected him? What if she yelled at him for wondering at how much he spent?

Questions of doubt swam through his head.

* * *

Maka looked everywhere in the gigantic room for her date. He was nowhere to be found. She went back over to the table hoping to find him there, but he wasn't there at all. She bit her lip nervously wondering what had him caught up. Another girl? Or was he in a fight? She needed to stop thinking about such ridiculous scenarios, but she couldn't. She walked over to one of the balcony doors. It was closed.

When balcony doors were closed, it meant someone was making out with someone else.

The wavelengths on the balconies were all too familiar.

That's because they were Soul and Jacqueline's souls.

She looked through the glass doors at a sharp angle and saw the two weapons lip-locked.

She wasn't angry that Soul was dating Jacqueline. She was angry that he never told her.

Maka made him into a Death Scythe, for Shinigami's sake! They shared everything about themselves! They _**had**_ the strongest resonance resonance in the entire DWMA!

She felt betrayed. She felt her soul pull away from her partner's as she turned away trying to conceal her tears of absolute hurt.

_Why didn't he tell me!? He made me feel that our resonance was off and that it was MY fault! How could he? We're supposed to be.. best friends.. _Maka thought in her head. She wiped away any tears that stained her cheeks. She began to break out in a run. She had to find Crona. She needed some comfort.

Maka's feet automatically guided her to Crona's room where she beat on the door frantically to see if he was there. It swung open as she looked up at the guy towering over her. She burst into fresh new tears as she flung herself at him. He pulled her inside the room and shut the door. He embraced her firmly before he spoke.

"Maka, what happened?" He asked her as benevolently as he could.

"S-Soul never t-told me t-that h-he-" She began

"And Jacqueline were dating?" Crona finished. She tensed up. Maka then shoved him roughly away.

"**YOU KNEW!?"** The hurt in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Maka, I didn't want to tell you because I knew it was going to hurt. We were going to make a plan to tell you as easily as we could. You weren't supposed to find out like this, I'm sorry Ma-"

"Who is this 'we'!?" She demanded with fire in her emerald eyes.

"I... um.. It's more than _we, _Maka. Half of the Spartoi unit knows and so does some of the school, but-"

**"WHO. IN GENERAL. IS **_**WE!?**_**"** She shouted at him.

"It was Kim and I, but-"

"I can't believe you guys. Especially _**you!**_ You guys _**knew **_and you never told me! **Didn't either of you see that fucking smoke coming off of my back!? DIDN'T YOU FUCKING KNOW THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS **_**MY **_**FAULT!?**" Maka slumped to the ground while letting out her sobs. Crona sat down next to her and cradled her in his arms. When she tried to pull away, he held her stiffly. She finally stopped struggling and collapsed on him, letting out the last of her sobs. She looked up at him with tearful eyes. They cut into Crona like knives. "How come you never told me?" She whispered.

"I didn't want to see you so upset. Kim and I were going to wait until the right time to tell you. We _were _going to make Soul tell you first, but that's kind of out the window now." He wiped away some of her tears. "Please stop crying, Maka." He pressed his forehead against hers. She slowly began to cease her weeping. Crona stood up and helped Maka up as well. "I still have something for you." He smiled at her as he grabbed a box off of his desk. Maka looked at it curiously as he handed it to her tenderly.

She looked at him with a somewhat confused look and the tilt of her head. She opened to box slowly, building Crona's suspense. She gasped when she saw the silver, diamond, and emerald bracelet. She looked him in the eyes as she started crying again. He smiled at her again very warmly as he took out the bracelet and latched it on her wrist. She ran into his arms and nearly hugged him to death.

"It's beautiful, Crona," Maka said into his chest. She got on her tippy-toes (as much as she could in heels) and kissed his cheek. She let her lips linger there for a minute as she reluctantly pulled herself away. "I-I left a mark," She said smiling as she went to wipe off the red mark. Crona caught her right hand with his left and they looked into each others eyes very deeply.

Before Maka could react, Crona leaned in and pressed his lips against her own. Her eyes widened as his grasp on her hand tightened a little. It was sensual, but deep and extremely pasionate. She closed her eyes and pressed on his lips back. It felt like they were the only people in the world. She felt her body heat up and she knew she must be as red as the lipstick on her lips.

Finally, they pulled back for some air, panting. Maka's lip-gloss tasted like mints, to Crona's pleasure. Their faces were still very close and Crona could feel Maka's breath hitting his wet lips. He wanted more, but he pulled his face back a few inches and looked her dead in the eyes.

"I love you, Maka Albarn. I love you more than anything or anyone on this planet. I always have, right from the beginning. And I always will."

Maka's eyes widened, but as she looked him back in the eyes, they softened as if someone had put her in front of a heater on a cold day. However, she had the most serious face on. "I love you, Crona Makenshi. I want to be with you forever." She rested her forehead on his forehead as they just stared into each others eyes. Warmth spread through Crona's body as he began to resonate with Maka, just to feel her comforting Grigori wavelength. It was different this time though; it reached out even further for his soul, wrapping it up with coziness. He could feel the wings of her soul fluttering.

Crona noticed that Maka's lips were parted and he utterly craved to feel them again. As if on cue, Maka smashed their lips together. Their eyes slipped shut as he enjoyed the sensation of the soft flesh. Now he really wanted to know what the inside of her mouth was like, so his tongue reached out and traced her bottom lip. She let a gasp escape and he smiled against her mouth and he knew she felt it. He took her gasp as a chance to enter.

She let out a soft and timid moan as Crona's tongue met her own. Crona distinctively tasted the sugary chocolate that coated her tongue almost immediately. Maka could taste the sugar cookies that Crona had eaten earlier. It was a new euphoria as their tongues wrestled for some dominance. Maka slightly pulled their mouths apart just enough so they could get some more oxygen.

Maka went in for another kiss, but Crona only let their lips brush across each other as he pulled back. He was teasing her. He did this a few more times, getting an annoyed whimper from Maka.

"Tease," She pouted. She baited him with her lips as he followed her's around. She stepped backwards slowly as he followed her closer. Maka felt her back hit a wall and she realized she accidentally got herself trapped in a corner.

Crona was now in his favorite corner with his favorite person and he was quite pleased. He rested his left hand on the side of her exposed thigh and slowly traced his hand up and down it. He was teasing her again.

The touch sent shivers up her spine. Crona began to slowly kiss down her face and when he reached her neck, he looked at her for a little permission. The look in her eye told him _yes. _He kissed her neck compassionately over and over. Even the slightest moan or whimper gave him satisfaction. He sunk his teeth into her collarbone which got him a groan of pleasure. The little bastard smirked. He did it again, but harder. Maka's eyes were lacquered over in ecstasy and it pleased him a lot. His hand went up a little further and he felt the lace of her underwear.

That's when someone knocked on his door.

It scared the shit out of him and he felt disappointed as the door swung open and Ms. Marie stepped in. She looked behind the door and saw them in the corner. She looked in complete disbelief at the teenagers with their arms around each other and a hand on the girl's thigh. Then she did something very unexpected.

She cracked the biggest smile that Maka has ever seen.

"**I KNEW IT!"** Ms. Marie shouted at them gleefully. They stared at her very confused. "You guys are so adorable together! I knew you two would eventually hit it off!"

Maka's face was so red and she felt so hot, she thought that she would faint.

"You guys are resonating as well! Hahahahaha! You guys are too cute!"

It was Crona's turn to look embarrassed. Hell, he looked absolutely mortified. "C-Can I help you?" He asked the weapon.

"Actually, I was looking for you both. It seems I've found you at the wrong time. I came to collect you because we were going to give praise to the Spartoi unit. It begins in fifteen minutes. Sorry about the intrusion. I'm seriously sorry," Ms. Marie apologized to them. "Just don't miss it!" The Death Scythe turned on her heel and walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

"Are you okay, Maka? You look like you're going to pass out," Crona pointed out as he picked her up and sat down on his bed with her in his lap. "You're warm, too." The cheeky bastard smirked when he realized why she was so red and warm.

"S-shut up," Maka turned her head away from him.

"Don't be like that." He grabbed her chin and turned her head towards him. He stifled a laugh.

"D-don't laugh at me!" She covered her face with her hands. "You douche."

He laughed as he moved her hands apart and kissed her forehead. "We should head back upstairs for this recognition thing or whatever the hell it is. Unless you want to skip it.." He smiled at her mischievously as her face reheated.

She tried to wiggle out of his grip, but he pulled her against his chest and cuddled into her. "Hmph," She protested. Finally, she gave in and hugged him back. Maka had never seen him so outgoing. He made the first move by kissing her and slipping his tongue into her mouth and slipping his hand under her dress. She blushed the most impossible shade of red thinking about it. He even made the first assault against her neck. And collarbone. She buried her face into his chest attempting to hide her crimson face.

She felt his fingers run through her hair as she snuggled closer to him. "We should head upstairs now," Maka said. "We only have about 10 minutes until they begin to call us on the stage. It'll take us a few minutes to get back upstairs anyway."

Crona sighed against her head. "Okay.." He said dissatisfied. He stood back up while he still had Maka in his arms. He set her feet on the ground and she clasped his hand and pulled him through the door.

Crona couldn't help but to glance at her lips and her exposed leg. It hit him then and there. Maka was his and he was Maka's now. He really liked that idea as he clamped onto her hand. He stopped walking for a second which stopped Maka. She turned around and looked at him.

With his free hand, he grabbed her waist and pulled her close. "You are mine and I am yours now."

Maka smiled with amusement. "Correct. I am yours. You are mine. We belong to each other."

They came nose to nose as their lips touched once more. Crona will never ever get tired of her soft, delicate lips against his own.

They were all his, too.


	15. Confucked

**Yeah, yeah, yeah.**

**I know I haven't updated in a few days.**

**I have the float part of the project nearly complete and I have half of my research done, so no worries.**

**Thank you for being so patient with me.**

**Especially since I have something else going on and I left you guys kind of hanging on the last chapter.**

**I was going to write a chapter yesterday, but I fell asleep and I was in deep thought about something that my friend told me that freaked me out.**

**Anyway, here's your treat for being so very kind and patient.**

**I love you all!**

**Oh Shit. I'm literally on the toilet and I see blood.**

**DAMN IT ALL TO HELL.**

**I still love you guys.**

**You got any chocolate?**

**Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to listening to Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party.**

**Oh yeah, and hooray for 30,000 words!**

* * *

_Those fucking spotlights are bright as shit, _Maka thought in her head as the Spartoi unit was called on stage. She really didn't like being in the spotlight, literally. It made her feel kind of uncomfortable to have everyone just staring at her for minutes on end. She tried to smile and look like she liked being there, but in all reality, she hated it.

Everyone was thanked, one by one, for fighting of the Kishin, Asura. She was the second to last person to be thanked. Of course, the final person was Crona, because he actually defeated Asura in full. He looked like he was going to shit bricks.

Thanking the whole Spartoi squad took thirty minutes and Maka's feet started to hurt from standing there in heels the entire time.

As soon as they all walked off of the stage, Maka grabbed Crona's hand and whisked him away to the table they were sitting at over an hour ago.

"I really don't like people looking at me like that," Crona said, still nervous from the spotlights.

"Yeah, it's extremely awkward. It feels like they're contemplating ways to see me trip or something," Maka said to him.

_Or they're trying to undress you with their eyes, _Crona thought in a weird spark of.. jealousy?

"Yes, contemplating ways to _trip _you," he said sarcastically.

"Are you _jealous_?" Maka cracked a cocky smile and raised her eyebrow mockingly.

"What? No!"

"You're a bad liar, Crona." She smiled sweetly and she reached over and kissed his cheek. Then, she flicked his nose. He looked at her with a blush forming on his face. "What should we do now? It's only ten o' clock and we still have two hours until the dance in over."

"I'm not really sure; we've done pretty much everything here. Yeah, we've been here for five hours. Aren't you tired at all? It is Christmas tomorrow," Crona asked.

"I am, but I really want to see the fireworks that they're going to shoot off when the dance ends. It's so pretty and it gets better every year!" Maka smiled at him again, but then it faded lightly. "Are you tired?"

"No, but I was wondering if you were. Is it really that nice?"

"Yes! It's absolutely amazing! But, the Fourth of July's fireworks are better."

"I hope they won't blow us up."

"They won't," Maka said as her smile returned.

Maka looked behind him and saw Soul and Jacqueline closing the balcony doors behind them. They could be so daft sometimes, not noticing them. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Crona.

They engaged in another strange conversation, something about plants or some shit.

Well anyway, Kid walks over to their table and pulls up a chair.

"Hello, Maka, Crona. Will you be staying to watch the fireworks?" He asked them.

"We will. Are they any good? Maka said that the Fourth of July fireworks are better," Crona said to him.

"Haha, yes, I assure you, their pretty and perfectly set up to be prefectly symmetrical," Kid stated.

"What brings you over here, Kid? For real. I have a feeling it's not to chit-chat," Maka commented.

Kid sighed. "Sadly, you are correct. I have a feeling something bad is to happen here shortly and I don't know what it is. I am warning you two. Stay together and be weary. Something very bad is to happen here."

"Do you think it's The Black Mass?" Crona asks him in monotone.

Maka stiffens. "It is quite possible that he will make a guest appearance," Kid vocalized without any enthusiasm.

"We shouldn't joke about it, Kid," Maka utters.

"Just trying to lighten the mood. But be attentive. I don't doubt he will appear. That probably why I am getting this apprehensiveness. His wavelength is probably drawing closer. Maka, you should go get your weapon," Kid said to Maka.

"Umm.. Kid.. I don't think are wavelengths are in synch at the moment.." Maka said forlornly.

Kid looked over at Crona and they shared a knowing look. Kid nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry, Maka. I told him to tell you when he came and talked to me about your resonance. I must scold him after this dance is over. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you myself. If I had known he did not tell you, I would've told you when I talked to you about The Black Mass. I partially didn't tell you then because of the stress of the knowledge of his escape," Kid replied to Maka.

She whipped her head back up to look at him. "How many fucking people knew about this? It seems everyone knew except for me. I guess it wasn't important enough that our resonance was thrown off and I landed in the Dispensary, now was it?" Maka gave the Shinigami and challenging look.

"It was for your own good."

She scowled. "For my own good? It feels like everyone just stabbed me in the back _for my own good_. Was it worth it? Was it really worth it? Everything is different now because of one decision. You people should have fucking told me."

She pushed away from the table roughly and stomped away, leaving the two young men sitting there. Crona put his head in his hands and sighed.

"I should go calm her down. She's right. We should have told her when we knew." Crona finished the conversation and he stood up and walked in the direction that Maka did.

"Please be careful.." Kid murmured as he walked away.

* * *

Maka sat on the steps of Shibusen. It was chilly outside, almost unbearable. That stupid moon kept grinning down at her with sinister eyes void of any emotion. Her elbows rested on her thighs and her hands held her face. She just stared into the eyes of that eldritch moon.

Maka's mind kept flashing back to the memories of the battle. She had seen some pretty awful things happened up there. She still had nightmares of the twisted shit that occurred on the moon. If it weren't for any of her friends, she would've have died or fallen completely subject to madness. Without them, she wouldn't be right where she is today, so maybe she shouldn't be angry at them.

They still had no excuse not to tell her though..

She was so confused.

Maka hugged her knees and looked down at the ground. She didn't know what to do or how to feel at the moment.

She let out a sigh of defeat, wishing she didn't just rush off like that and leave Crona behind. She was acting rash, but back there at the table she was just so upset that everyone knew and didn't tell her that Soul and Jacqueline were dating.

A simple, "Hey, you're partner who you spent about 5 years trying to turn into a Death Scythe is dating someone else and probably just threw off your resonance and broke your trust, but it's not _that _big of a deal."

That would've been fine for her because she could have sorted everything out, but nooooo, everyone just needed to make it even more complicated. They just needed to stop protecting her from stuff like that for once. It really pissed Maka off because they don't realize that she's nearly 18 and her head is pretty damn clear. She really couldn't put up with her friends sometimes.

She just, as Crona would say, didn't know how to deal with them.

She sighed once more and just gave up on her thoughts and closed her eyes. She really was tired. Maka didn't even notice Crona until he put his suit jacket on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Crona. That was stupid of me. I was so upset that my arrogance got in the way," Maka said not looking at him. Crona thought she looked so miserable, like she was trying so hard to figure out her feelings but she couldn't.

He sat down next to her and put his arms around her. "Maka, don't apologize. You have no reason to. You're absolutely right. We should've told you sooner and you wouldn't be so downcast. I'm the one who should be sorry. I've known for weeks and you're my best friend and I didn't tell you."

Maka looked at him with her dazzling viridescent eyes. They seemed to glow in the stark darkness. She opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't know what to say. Her face began to grow into a frustrated expression because she was thinking about what to say to him.

Crona thought she looked cute when she was frustrated. Her brows scrunched together and she looked so deep into her thoughts.

He leaned in and kissed her, which surprised her. Warmth spread through Maka and she felt all warm and fuzzy. They seemed to melt into each other on the steps as Maka wrapped her arms around Crona in return. He pulled her as close as he could and they kissed until they had to pull away for some air.

They just sat there, embracing each other tightly. Maka laid her head on his shoulder and let out a small yawn.

"Do you want to go back inside, Crona? It's kind of cold out here," Maka asked the swordsman.

"Sure," He said as they let go of each other and stood up. Before they moved up the stairs, Maka grabbed his tie and kissed him.

After a few seconds, she let go of it and pulled away and grabbed his hand. Crona was bright red and Maka had a smile on her face. "Let's go~!"

Those plans were ruined when she felt a wavelength looming behind them. She froze in her tracks, forcing Crona to halt as well.

This wavelength was oppressive and deranged. It was full to the brim with malice and it seemed very dictatorial. It made Maka want to order people around; to control them.

This was the wavelength of The Black Mass.

Maka turned her head cautiously. Crona snapped his head around and looked at the thing.

It was a completely pitch-black mass. Go fucking figure. It seemed to shift and mold into human beings of high power; people like Julius Caesar or Adolf Hitler. The thing was colossal.

It stared directly at Maka.

"_Such small human beings with very large souls. I see you haven't fallen subject to the Fragment's madness of order, Asura's fear, Eibon or Noah's knowledge, or Excalibur's anger_. _But will you plunge into my madness? The madness of power? Taste it, Maka Albarn, taste the power that you could have. You could make your parents fall in love again. You could make your father loyal to your mother and yourself only. You could see everyone bow to you and your grigori soul. You desire that, you would savor every moment of it," _The Warlord spoke in a soothing and enticing voice.

Maka's eyes were wide with fright. "You don't know me! You don't know what I want! I don't need your power! **LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!**" She yelled at it.

Crona instinctively stepped in front of her and summoned Ragnarok.

**"Goddamn, Crona! It's about fucking time!" **Ragnarok shouted at his meister. Then, the demon saw the Warlord that towered over them. **"Who the hell is that stupid cunt!?" **

"Maka. Go get Kid," Crona told his girlfriend.

"Crona! You can't fight this thing by yourself! Not even for a second! Besides, Kid will be here in a minute! He has to be able to sense his wavelength! I'm not leaving you!" Maka hollered at him in reply.

_"Foolish and daft humans. You cannot escape me anyways. The Shinigami cannot save you either. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you will not be going anywhere. Your souls are mine. __**Just let go of everything and give into the madness. Let your souls drive you.**__" _ The Warlord professed.

The weirdest thing happened. A force field of pure magic surrounded them, trapping them inside with The Black Mass. Maka could see it shimmer with powerful spells and symbols. She turned in a circle as she felt the madness seep slowly into her mind. Her grigori soul kept some of it away, but the longer she was in there, the more overpowering it would become. Her legs felt wobbly as she dropped onto her knees and covered her head with her hands. Her pulse quickened, her head pounded, and her heart thumped against her rib cage.

Maka could not be weak, but The Black Mass had caught her at a weak moment. She had no weapon and she was so confused about everything.

"Screech Alpha," Crona barely whispered. He swiped his sword into the ground as a projectile that moved across the ground was shot straight at The Black Mass. The mouth hit the Warlord and knocked him to the ground, but he got back up, seemingly unharmed.

_**"Ignoramus! A basic move such as that will not harm me! I am a Warlord. I am power. I represent madness! You are nothing but a mortal with a weapon under your skin! I am a god. You are nothing without your weapon!"**_

"Crona! Don't let that thing touch you! The very flux of it will drive you insane! That's what happened to Kid in the Book of Eibon!" Maka cried at Crona as she ran forward next to him.

Crona looked at her ."Stay back, Maka. You don't have a weapon, so please just stay out of the way. I don't want you to get hurt!"

Maka saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned and looked at the doors of Shibusen where people were piling out. She could hear them all yelling and screaming and panicking. One of the only people she couldn't see at all was her partner, Soul. She saw Kid hitting the force field with wavelength shots from Liz and Patty. Kim and a ton of other witches began to interpret the magic swirling on the force field so it would dissipate. By the time it would probably dissipate, they'd be dead or engulfed in madness.

The Black Mass didn't move. Neither did they. Crona and Maka stared at the ink black blotch.

They had no idea what to do.


	16. Just Another Surprise

**Oh my goddddd.**

**Another fucking snow day.**

**Anyway, I have nearly all of my research complete for that project, but I still have a ton of stuff to do this week so I probably won't update until this weekend or until I have enough time to.**

**All I need to do for my tiny project parade float is make it mobile and put a banner on it and then I have to write the short report to go with it.**

**It seems like so little, but the research takes a long time and the float took some time to build as well.**

**No worries though. I have faith in myself.**

**Now, STORY TIME!**

* * *

They just stood there.

The world seemed frozen around them, except they knew it wasn't with all the screaming and magic around them.

The Black Mass ominously loomed over Maka and Crona, almost as if he was waiting for them to make the first move.

Maka could feel the force field's magic dwindling already because she could sense everyone's souls a little better. The Warlord was monstrous, no doubt about it. How the hell were they supposed to defeat it alone? She knew Crona had defeated Asura himself, but that took 6 months and she only battled for a few hours and she almost didn't survive.

They would have to survive until the force field was down and everyone could join in. A sad thought, really, but right now the couple had no other options but to stay alive until then.

"Crona, how many other attacks do you have?" Maka asked the swordsman.

"Not many since I sacrificed my mad blood to seal the Kishin. But don't worry Maka, I'll protect you," Crona replied as he looked back at her with a loving smile on his face. She returned it.

_"If you mortals are finished chatting, I will be collecting your souls now. I shall not digest them, but I shall submit them to madness," _The Black Mass said to them like he was saying how nice the weather was.

"Bloody slicer," Crona mumbled as he cut his wrist and flung hardened black blood blades at the Warlord.

The Black Mass stumbled at the contact of the black blood, but he absorbed it. All it did was make he angry.

_"Imprudent mortals! You cannot harm me! I am power! Power doesn't fall!"_

"Look what happened to Rome and Egypt! They fell pretty damn hard for such powerful people! The taller you are, the harder you fall, you batshit Warlord!" Maka spat at him.

_"Tough talk for a weaponless meister, don't you think?" _He retorted in a furious manner.

"Maka **CHOP!**" The blond meister slashed at The Black Mass with the spine of a very heavy book. "I still have knowledge as my weapon!"

_"What in the seven hells!?"_

Maka heard some cheering from outside the dome, but it soon returned to yelling and chanting the meisters on.

She did this a few more times until an unrelenting force knocked her backwards, sending her skidding across the concrete and sprawled out on her back. She groaned and sat up. She felt a stinging sensation on her back and when she touched it she saw blood.

"Maka!" Crona yelled as he ran over to her. "Your back is scratched up and it's bleeding! We need to get out of here and defeat that damn thing!"

He was going to yell an insult at the Warlord when the unrelenting force got him as well. It was like a silent FUS RO DAH!

It didn't hurt him as much since he actually had a long sleeve shirt on and he had black blood, but he still winced with pain.

He was 50 feet away from Maka and he saw The Black Mass float over to her.

_"A fine soul you have, my dear. Perfect for ruling an empire," _The Black Mass said as he let some of his black liquid drip on Maka.

* * *

All at once, Maka saw visions swim through her head.

She saw herself sitting on a golden throne and her parents together happily. She saw millions of people bowing down to her and she saw Crona at her side. Maka also saw all of her friends with collars latched around their throats and her ordering them to take care of errands. She saw piles and piles of precious metals and gold and jewelry. Finally, she saw herself ruling as the new Shinigami even though she wasn't a reaper.

It absolutely terrified her.

* * *

Maka heard a loud screeching noise and she realized that she was emitting that noise from her throat and she felt tears streaming down her face.

She wanted none of that, but something urged her to want to make that happen.

_"You liked that taste of power, did you not, Maka Albarn? Imagine that; everyone and everything bending to your will and bending backwards for you. You could control the lives of people. I could make you into the new Shinigami. You could rule this planet and rid it of the filth the resides on this earth. You could be a queen who will reign for eternity and raze anything that gets in your way. You could have whatever your heart desires. You could have all the power you need if you would allow yourself to submit to me," _The Warlord cooed as the scythemeister stared at that ground with wide eyes full of absolute horror.

"No... I don't want any of that... I don't want to see my friends in chains! I don't want everyone to hate me and act like they love me! I don't want people to fear me! **I don't want that! I DON'T WANT TO BE THE NEW SHINIGAMI OR RULE THIS PLANET! THAT ISN'T MY DESTINY!**" She screeched at The Black Mass.

_"Make it your destiny, Maka. Submit. Let go of your worries. You wouldn't have to lift a single finger to get any of your desires at all."_

"**THAT'S NOT LIFE! THAT'S BEING A DICTATOR! I DON'T WANT THAT! I DON'T NEED THAT!" **Maka's tone dropped low. "I have everything I need right here... **I DON'T NEED YOU!"**

She looked over at Crona who was now standing. They nodded. "**SOUL RESONANCE!"** They screamed in unison.

The weirdest thing happened as soon as their souls resonated.

Maka felt their souls grow twice the size they usually were and she felt something tug in her back. She felt her back and their was no more pain or stinging. Oh yeah, and there were wings.

Her wings were glowing white and kind of spiky, but they seemed girly enough. Her skin was glowing too.

"M-Maka, is that you?" Crona asked. "Y-you have a halo, too." Maka looked above her head and sure enough, there was a golden glowing circlet above her head.

She stood up and backed away from the Warlord and next to Crona.

"I wonder what I can do," Maka said to herself out loud. She glanced over at Crona who seemed to have a gray aura around him. Usually it was pitch black, but she thought her grigori wavelength probably lightened him. Wings protruded out of his back and those were the color of obsidian because of his black blood. What an odd couple.

Maka could hear the yelling cease as it turned into gasps of shock and awe.

She experimentally flapped her wings and they lifted her a few inches off of the ground.

"Sweet!" She exclaimed. She did it again as she rose up about 6 feet off of the ground. Sadly, there was not enough time to play around because there was a threat standing right in front of them.

Crona gripped Ragnarok in his hand as he flung some more bloody slicers at the Warlord. Thanks to their resonance, they seemed a lot more effective than the did before. A few of them knocked The Black Mass off of his feet or whatever the fuck he stood on.

The Black Mass swatted at the meisters as they began landing blows on him with a sword and the spine of a book.

_**"I will NOT be defeated by such miniscule weapons and meisters!" **_The Warlord shouted out of frustration.

"Do we seriously look that miniscule to you!?" Crona asked him. "If we were that miniscule, why do you want our souls so much!?"

_**"Because they already possess power and madness! I want them for my own! Death's Angel and the Demon Sword! Imagine the absolute power I could use through you to conquer this wretched world!"**_

"You will NOT conquer anyone! No one!" Maka yelled as she repeatedly whacked him with her book.

_**"ARRGH! STOP HITTING ME WITH THAT STACK OF TREES!" **_

_** "I WILL WHEN YOU ARE DEFEATED!" **_

_** "ARGHHHHH!"**_ The Warlord let out a shout as the magical force field dropped. Weapons and meister surged forth as they all began to resonate, creating a large link of sympathy. They slashed and jabbed at The Black Mass until he finally began to back away.

"My, my, my. Look at all the trouble you've caused. Weren't you supposed to be good?" Kid questioned him.

_"Ugh. Miserable Shinigami."_

"You dare attack the academy!? I have passed judgment on you and my judgment is that you need not to live!"

_"Arrogant mortals! I will be back once I am more powerful!" _The Black Mass looked straight at Maka as the students kept attacking him. _"I'll be back for __**you, **__the bearer of the Grigori soul. __**I will get your soul!**__"_

With that happy note, he disappeared in a whir of darkness.

Everyone stopped resonating as weapons turned back into humans and as Maka and Crona turned back to normal. Maka barely got to see what she could do with this new ability. It was exciting, really, but she didn't understand why it never happened until now.

Kid interrupted her thoughts. "I told you to be careful." Maka glared slightly at him. "However, you and Crona saved us for now. And that ability was unlike anything I've ever seen. Why hasn't that happened before? You and Soul had a powerful resonance."

"I really don't want to talk about this right now, Kid. I'm tired and I just want to see the damn fireworks and curl up and go to sleep. Christmas is tomorrow, after all," Maka stated.

"Very well. I'll tell them to set off the fireworks now and bring the dance to an end. Everyone needs rest if we are to prepare for yet another battle with a Warlord. We'll pick up this conversation another time. We need to discuss and figure out this angelic ability so we can understand it," Kid said to Maka. They said their goodbyes as Kid walked off.

Crona wrapped his arms around his Maka and rocked back and forth with her. That battle was pretty scary. Especially since he'd already been through something like that once and he was definitely not fond of it. He rested his chin on his girlfriend's head. _Girlfriend. _He liked calling Maka that. He pulled her closer as he closed his eyes and swayed with her in the chilly breeze. It was cold, but he didn't feel cold.

This new found moment of peace was interrupted by a certain weapon with silver hair approaching.

"Maka, are you okay?" Soul asked his meister who currently had her face buried in Crona's chest. She froze at the realization of the voice and hugged Crona tighter.

She answered in a bitter voice. "I'm fine. What do you want?"

"Nice to see you too. But that thing you did with the wings and shit was absolutely insane. How come it hasn't showed itself before?" He asked with a weird hint of covetousness towards Crona.

"I don't know, but I don't really feel like talking about it right now. I'm tired and I don't want to be bothered," Maka said with an aggrieved tone of voice. "Please just go away and leave me alone."

"What stick made it's way up your ass, Maka?" Soul asked spitefully.

Crona felt her freeze and her clench onto his shirt. Her breathing was labored as he tried to soothe her but she seemed like she was about to explode and reign terror on her weapon. Maka's breathing sped up dramatically. She sounded like she was hyperventilating or having a panic attack. He hugged her even tighter and it seemed to calm her down as she nuzzled into him more.

"I think it'd be smart if you'd just back away and leave her alone right now," Crona said with a nervous smile in fear that Maka would beat the living shit out of the Death Scythe.

"I think it'd be best if you shut your damn mouth. You can't tell me what I can and cannot do. I'm a Death Scythe. I could kill right here and right now if I wanted to. You're lucky that Kid even gave you another chance after all of the sins and crimes that you've committed. So back off and leave _my _meister alone," Soul said calmly like that was supposed to scare Crona.

Maka's breathing got even more pressured and she began to shake. Her nails dug into Crona's back, but it didn't hurt. "Please calm down, Maka. He didn't mean it. He's just upset that you were resonating with me and that that ability came up when you only resonated with me," Crona said into her ear. Her breathing didn't slow and neither did her shaking.

In one motion, she ripped away from Crona and bitch-slapped Soul with the back of her hand.

Yes, Maka had hit Soul before. She's hit him with books and her fists and kicked him wither feet, but she had never _ever _slapped him across the face. Not with her bare hand, anyways.

Soul stumbled backwards as he looked at Maka with a hand cupped over his bright red cheek.

She had tears in the corner of her eyes and she looked absolutely infuriated.

Maka spoke in a shaky voice, **"Are you forgetting the meister who made you into a Death Scythe? You're not going to kill Crona, or I'll kill you. Crona's sins were cleared when he SAVED THE WORLD from Asura. I am NOT your property, SO QUIT TREATING ME LIKE IT!" **Now she had tears spilling out of her eyes.

"M-Maka.. I.." Soul began, but was cut off by another slap to the face. He was too stunned to do anything. Oh yeah. She was livid. Crona began to steer her away while trying to calm her down so she wouldn't go apeshit and beat the hell out of Soul.

The Death Scythe just stood there, holding his face trying to calculate what just happened. Jacqueline walked over to him. She saw the whole thing. She moved his hand and looked at the bright red hand mark across his right cheek.

Jacqueline had nothing to say, because deep down, she kind of thought he deserved it. A terrible thought, but he needed it. She kissed his cheek as if it would help, but Soul just stared at empty space, unresponsive.

His meister back-handed him. Twice. He deserved it. He knew he did. Crona asked him nicely to leave Maka alone when he knew Maka was sensitive at the moment and Soul went on and insulted her best friend anyway.

Soul slumped to the ground as the bright and symmetrical fireworks began to go off. Jacqueline sat down next to him and urged him to look at the fireworks.

* * *

Maka and Crona sat on a balcony, watching the fireworks. Crona's arm was laced around Maka's shoulder and Maka's head rested against his chest. She had calmed down and her crying had stopped, but she still sniffled.

"You're right, Maka. The fireworks are pretty," Crona said, attempting to lighten the mood.

She let out a small smile which made him smile. "I told you so," Maka teased lightly. She was quiet for a few minutes until she spoke up again. "Thank you for not saying anything bad to Soul back. I thought you would have, but you didn't." She smiled brightly. "I love you, Crona."

Crona cracked a huge smile. "I love you, too, Maka." He kissed her head as they continued to enjoy the fireworks.


	17. MERRY CHRISTMAS, YOU LITTLE SHITS

**Christmas Break, son!**

**I still have a hella lot of shit to do!**

**Anywayyyyyyyy.**

**Merry Christmas!**

**I love you guys!**

**No more Resbang picture because I missed the artist's sign-ups. Fuck this. Fuck that. FUCK EVERYTHING.**

**I am one lazy fuck.**

**MWHAHAHA.**

**Goodbye.**

* * *

Crona and Maka finished watching the fireworks which really were spectacular. The finale was a giant setup so the fireworks would make a giant Death mask in the sky to honor the former Shinigami.

Now that that was over, Maka just wanted to go to sleep and forget that part of that night even happened. She never thought she'd ever slap Soul in the face, but he really deserved it. It's like he didn't even understand why which pissed her off even more.

However, she was too tired to be angry; to think.

"Cronaaaaaaa I'm tiredddddddddddd," Maka complained.

"Me toooooooooooo," Crona mocked. "Do you want me to take you home or do you.. um.. want to stay here.. with.. um.. me?" He blushed as soon as the words came out.

"Can I stay here with you? I have a feeling Soul is going to be the one to head home and I really don't want to deal with him at all right now.."

"Yeah, I'm okay with it as long as you are..." He blushed again. Maka thought he really was adorable.

Maka stood up lazily and nearly fell on her face when Crona caught her and picked her up bridal style.

"Damn, you really are tired," Crona said to her as he noticed the blood rush to her face.

"Y-you don't have to carry me!" She wiggled in his arms, but he held her tightly against his chest.

"You nearly broke your face!" He argued as he began to walk back into the DWMA. Maka huffed, knowing that he was right. She opened her mouth to say something, but she really had no argument; she was tired as fuck.

She didn't put up a fight as he carried her to his room deep into the dungeons of Shibusen. Most people are bothered by the dungeons, but she was so used to be down there, that she didn't care.

Once inside, Crona laid a half awake Maka on his bed. Before he could walk away, Maka grabbed his hand and pulled him down next to her. She curled up next to him and was asleep in seconds. Crona blushed slightly as he began to rub her back as he began to drift off as well.

Crona thought about how crazy of a night it was. He had been the one to kiss Maka and he thought if either of them would have done it first, it would have been Maka. But he practically threw himself at her and he thought she would reject him, but she didn't. She kissed him back. Thank fuck that she accepted him because it would've been hella awkward whenever they hung out. He even got to taste that sweet, sweet chocolate that coated the inside of her mouth.

He smiled to himself, but he began to go over the fight with The Black Mass.

The Warlord would be back; no doubt about it. It shook him up even though he didn't want to show it. It reminded him of the battle on the moon where he was trapped for 6 months, constantly fighting. He didn't want that to happen to Maka. He would protect her no matter what.

He shoved it out of his mind and thought about the satisfaction he actually felt when Soul seemed jealous of those insane powers when Maka resonated with Crona. Soul was so pissed and Crona could see it written across the albino's face. He really did deserve those two bitch slaps to the face. True, he shouldn't think that way, but Soul had lied to Maka a ton of times and he had the nerve to insult Maka. Soul was being such a damn hypocrite.

Another thing that gave him satisfaction was that Maka came to him for comfort and to feel safe. Less and less did Crona see Maka talking to Soul about her problems. Crona knew he shouldn't be jealous of the Death Scythe, but he really couldn't help it. Maka was the only one who had ever shown him genuine kindness, not pity. Maka was the only who had even shown him love, not hate. He admired her, really, and she adored him. Crona knew that he would happy no matter what anyone says to him as long as he has Maka by his side.

He needed her and he hope she felt the same way.

* * *

Soul stumbled into his apartment; alone. His face still mentally stung from the place where Maka had slapped him twice.

As soon as the apartment door was locked, he made a beeline for his room. He shut his door behind him and latched it shut.

He emitted a sound he hasn't heard in a long time.

Tears started to make their way down his face.

He laid down on his bed and put his face into his pillow. He cried into his pillow, although he was rather noisy because he really never cried. Soul's shoulders jerked with his sobs.

They were tears of shame. He knew that dating Jacqueline would have horrible consequences and what he said back at the DWMA was just over the fine line. He was jealous of that powerful move that happened when Maka and Crona resonated and the fact that Crona was comforting his meister. That was _his _job, as harsh as it sounded. Soul let his wrath get in the way and made Maka even more upset than she already was. She had just finished battling The Black Mass for fuck's sake! Of course, he had to fucking piss her off and insulting her best friend.

He didn't know what to say to her- if he ever got to see her again after that. He didn't even know where she was right now or if he had to guess it'd probably be with _Crona_. Soul shouldn't be jealous, but he didn't like the idea of Maka spending the night with someone he wasn't fond of, but he sure as hell can't say anything over his hypocrisy.

At this point, Soul didn't want to think about it anymore, so he just cried himself to sleep.

* * *

Maka groggily sat up. Light streamed through the small barred window that was about 15 feet above the ground. She stretched her arms and yawned. She was positive her hair was a mess and her dress was in tatters, but she didn't really give two shits. All she cared about was the sleeping meister next to her.

She looked at him. His arms were around her waist even though she was sitting up and she thought of how sweet that was. She smile at him and kissed his nose. It wiggled in his sleep and she giggled. Crona smiled in his sleep as if he sensed her laughing. Maka began to gently untangle herself from his captivating arms and when she did, she rolled out of his bed. Her bare feet touched the cold ground and she let out a very loud "EEEK" as she jumped back on the bed. In the process, she woke up Crona who shot straight up with an attentive look on his face. He still looked pretty tired.

"What? What's wrong!?" He asked in a fuddled tone. He looked around frantically for any threats and his eyes finally settled on the blond girl on his bed.

"Sorry, Crona! The floor is freezing!" She apologized.

Crona felt a ripping sensation in his back as his familiar weapon popped out.

**"YOU DAMN BITCH! YOU WOKE ME UP!"** Ragnarok shouted at her.

"Go back to sleep, Ragnarok!" Crona yelled at his weapon.

**"MAKE ME, YOU FUCKIN' PUSSY!" **The weapon paused for a second as the two meisters began to laugh at him. **"What the fuck are you laughin' at!?"** Maka pointed at him and Crona laughed even louder. The demon sword looked down at himself and saw that he was... tinier. His voice's pitch changed to that of a teenager going through puberty. **"What the FUCK did you people do to me!?** **DID YOU TWO HOOK UP!? I'LL KILL YOU, GODDAMMIT!"**

"Stop it, Ragnarok! So what if we ARE going out! You can't _kill_ her!" Crona scolded the weapon.

**"Oh. Did you get laid!? Alright! No wonder why you seem so loose today!"**

"WHAT!? I-I didn't get _laid_!" Crona argued. Crona blushed a deep shade of red at his weapon's comment. Maka was laughing her nice ass off. "J-just go away, Ragnarok!"

**"So you can fuck the cow again!? Whatever. You owe me, Crona!"** Ragnarok pulled on his meister's hair as he retreated into Crona's bloodstream again.

Maka was still cracking up. She wiped tears away.

"Don't laugh at me!" Crona exclaimed. Maka finally ceased her laughing fit and hugged Crona.

"Merry Christmas!" Maka then gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"I-uh Merry Christmas!" Crona stuttered. He circled his arms around her while still trying to absorb the fact that he could kiss Maka. He pulled back a little and kissed her on the lips right back.

"Now, go get dressed so we can go to my house to open presents!" She smiled at him as she stood up to walk out of the room.

"B-but you already gave me a present, Maka," Crona told her.

"And what was that?" She questioned. She walked back over to him and sat on him. She could feel him tense underneath her, but he relaxed a bit, realizing that it was okay.

"I-um. Well, you," He said as he turned away. Maka grabbed his face and kissed him again. His hands snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer. After a minute of face battling, they pulled away for some air. Maka detached herself and walked back over to the door and opened it. She winked at him right before she shut it to wait outside as he got dressed.

* * *

Maka was kind of nervous as they approached her apartment because she could feel Soul's soul inside. She reluctantly pulled out her key and slid it into the keyhole. She turned the key and opened the door. It looked just like it had before she left the day before. Yesterday felt like forever ago though.

The Christmas tree stood relevantly tall and there were decorations pretty much everywhere because Soul loved Christmas. All the presents sat wrapped underneath the flashy tree.

She went into her bedroom and swapped her tattered dress for some casual clothes. When she exited her room, she cautiously knocked on Soul's door. Maka heard him mumble and roll of his bed and hit the floor with a thump followed by an "ow."

Maka walked back into the living room and handed Crona one of the presents that sat on the fake snow. She smiled at him and nodded for him to open it. He gently pulled off the white ribbon and opened the black box. Inside was dog tag necklace. One of the tags had he and Maka's name on them and the other one had a note on it.

The tag's note said,_ "We will always be best friends; I will always be here for you. I love you." _

It was just a few simple words, but it meant the world to him. He looked at Maka with a surprised and loving look as she slung her arms around his neck. "I love it, Maka. I love you, too," Crona whispered in her ear. She finally let go and smiled at him. He slipped it over his head and it fell around his neck.

They heard footsteps behind them and they turned around and saw Soul standing in the kitchen facing them. He froze. Maka pulled out another present from under the tree. It was pretty big, so she had to hold it with both of the arms. She gestured from her weapon to come over. Slowly, he made his way over. Maka stood up and dropped it in Soul's arms. They seemed to have an understanding with each other as they stared at each other.

She nodded at him to open it, so he sat on the couch and dejectedly tore off the paper, knowing he didn't deserve a partner as great as Maka.

He saw what was underneath the paper and he froze up and his eyes widened. He looked back at Maka.

It was an electric Yamaha piano. It wasn't cheap either.

"Maka.." Soul began.

"Now you don't have an excuse not to play," Maka said in monotone. She didn't smile or laugh. She just looked at him.

There was a few knocks on the door as all of her friends let themselves in.

Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kilik, Pot of Fire, Pot of Thunder, Ox, Harvar, Kid, Liz, Patty, Kim, and Jacqueline. The whole Spartoi unit. They all were bearing gifts.

They all had gifts for one another, so there was a whole ton of presents.

* * *

After everyone opened their presents, Maka and Tsubaki made hot chocolate and cookies for everyone. The hot chocolate had candy canes in them so they were minty and delicious. Everyone enjoyed the warm chocolate chip cookies with satisfied faces.

**"You cows sure can cook!" **Ragnarok stated as he shoveled cookies into his mouth.

"S-stop calling them that, Ragnarok," Crona chastised. "You're lucky they even bothered to make anything for you."

**"Shut up, you emo freak! I said that they could could so calm yer tits!"**

"MAKA CHOP!" The blond meister slammed a thick book over the little demon's head. Ragnarok fell flat as a pancake on Crona's head and retreated very quickly into his meister.

"Thanks again, Maka," Crona said gratefully to his girlfriend.

"You're welcome. Serves him right for being a little douche bag!" Maka said with an uncanny smile.

"How can you stand him, Crona?" Kim asked. "He's so obnoxious. He would drive me NUTS! And did he get smaller!?"

"I'm used to him being so rude and I do my best to make sure he has manners of some sort," Crona replied, pushing away the comment of his weapon being smaller.

"Anyway, what should we do today?" Kilik asked no one in particular. They looked at him. "What? We can't just sit here all day! Let's go do something fun!"

"Is anything even open, Kilik?" Harvar questioned the pot meister (hehe, _pot meister_).

"I think the movie theater is open," Ox said.

"Well what movies are there?" Jacqueline added on.

"Well, I think there's Catching Fire or some other shit," Soul said. "I heard it's pretty damn good."

"You haven't even read the book," Maka commented.

"Books are for losers, Maka!" Black*Star yelled at the young woman. With that, Maka threw a book at him and it hit him square in the face.

"Books are better than you!" Maka countered. "Exhibit A: You were just knocked out by a book."

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU FUCKIN' THREW IT AT MY FACE!"

_BAM. _Maka threw another book.

Everyone was giggling at the antics as Tsubaki sweat dropped and put some ice on her meister's face. She laughed nervously, afraid of being hit with a book as well.

Maka was laughing at the sight of Black*Star being defeated by a book.

Crona liked hearing her laugh. She sounded like an angel. And angel who nails people in the face with 4 inch thick books. Yep. She was all his.

* * *

Patty decided that they would all see Catching Fire because she wanted to see some shit blow up and lots of blood. When the movie was over, she was a bit disappointed because there wasn't that much blood.

"20 bucks for that shit and barely any blood!" Patty complained to her older sister as everyone surged out of the theater.

"At least it was good!" Liz said with a smile. "I can't wait for Mockingjay!"

"They left out some things.." Maka said with a frown. "The book was better!"

"BOOKS ARE FOR LOSERS!" Black*Star exclaimed, not learning his lesson. _MAKA CHOP!_

"Hell no! I'm not healing him!" Kim shouted as she ran away from the blue-haired assassin and behind Jacqueline.

"STOP WITH THAT DAMN BOOK!" Black*Star shouted once more at Maka. He winced and held his arms over his head, awaiting another blow. It never came.

"Fineeee. Just stop calling me a loser!" Maka said teasingly. She gently tapped him on the head with her book and turned away on her heel. "I'm feeling generous today."

"Tch."

"THE HELL WAS THAT!?"

"NOTHING."

"That's what I thought."

* * *

After a few more hours, everyone went out again and Soul went with them. Maka and Crona stayed behind at her apartment so they could have a few hours of Christmas to themselves. Maka was happy that she was alone with Crona, but she was upset because she wished her mother, Kami, would've visited her. She hadn't even gotten a post-card from her.

Crona seemed to sense her sadness as he put his arm around her and allowed her to snuggle into him. "What's wrong, Maka?" He asked with his voice full of concern.

"It's nothing, Crona," She replied putting on a halfhearted smile.

"You're lying. I can tell you are because I can feel your wavelength. Please tell me what's wrong."

"I said that it's nothing. You don't need to worry about it."

He pouted a little, but he didn't pry anymore. He sighed and stayed silent for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry, Crona. I sounded a little harsh." She stood up from the couch and went to the bathroom. Ragnarok popped out of his meister's back when he heard the bathroom door shut.

**"Jesus, Crona. Get yer shit together! Grab her ass or something. I'll admit, the cow has a nice ass, so grab it. Do something to rile her up. GET LAID. You need it you fuckin' hermit crab!" **Ragnarok began to pummel Crona's head.

"I'm not going to grab her ass! S-she'd probably hit me! I don't know how to deal with my girlfriend hitting me with a book!" Crona complained.

**"Well, yer an idiot anyways so it doesn't matter! You have no more brain cells to loose! Just go on and get in her panties for fuck's sake! I know you want to! You think about it all the damn time!"**

"I-I do not!"

**"Yeah right! And I'm fuckin' Samuel L. Jackson! Like hell you don't think about touching her and her touching you! You wanna fuck the shit-"**

Crona heard the bathroom door open so he smashed his fist into his weapon's jaw. The little bastard recoiled back inside of the pinkette as soon as Maka walked back into the room.

_**We'll continue this later, you little shit.**_ Ragnarok whispered in his head.

"What was all the yelling about?" Maka questioned Crona.

"Oh, it was nothing. Just Ragnarok being an ass.." Crona replied with a skittish smile.

_That was too close for comfort! _Crona thought to himself.

"So um... what do you want to do now?" Crona asked his beloved.

"To be honest, I have no idea. It's only 6, so we have a ton of time until anyone bothers us. What do you want to do?" Maka had a tinge of suggestiveness in her voice, even Crona barely noticed it. At that moment, Crona had no idea what he was supposed to do or say in a romantic relationship. Especially not with his first and best friend, crush, and kiss. He still couldn't believe that Maka was his.

He must have zoned out for a few minutes because Maka began to wave her hand in front of his face. Crona snapped out of it a stood up from the couch.

"Are you okay? Was Ragnarok being a total dick to you?" Maka asked him.

"N-no. I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"N-nothing. I'm just thinking about what we should do to pass time."

"You want to play a game or something?"

"W-what type of game?"

"We can play truth or dare, a board-game, a videogame, or whatever you want to do."

"I want to play truth or dare, Maka."

"Okay. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"How much do you like me, Crona?"

"I don't like you, Maka."

"W-what?" Maka's mouth fell open. It was like a slap across the face.

"Because I love you," Crona smiled at her as he pulled her into an embrace.

"You're as bad as Ragnarok!"

"I am not! Truth or dare."

"Dare!"

"I dare you to kiss me."

Maka blushed but she should have seen it coming. She did pick dare after all. Rules were rules. She grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his lips. She just wanted to melt into him and his soul. She loved everything about Crona. From his shyness to his bravery. From his lankiness to his boldness.

This was the best Christmas ever.


	18. Happy New Year, Fucker Faces

**Hello!**

**You look nice today!**

**I love you guys~!**

**Special shout out to Hatter Quicktype and Odat, they're some of my favorite authors!**

**I think the song "Your Body is a Weapon" by The Wombats describes Maka and Crona's relationship perfectly.**

**Just saying.**

**This one is for the new year, lovelies~!**

**CHEERS, YOU LITTLE SHITS~!**

* * *

"Everyone will be staying in the guest rooms of my house for New Year's Eve tonight! No ifs, ands, or buts about it!" Kid stated to the Spartoi unit. He had called them into the Death Room after the school day had ended. Everyone was excited about the new year, but Maka really didn't want to have another party. There was going to be way more people than just the Spartoi unit, but only they were allowed to stay over at the Gallows Manor for the night.

Christmas was enough for Maka, but again, Kid forced her to. Apparently, she needed another break even though she didn't want one. Sometimes Kid could be so fucking dense.

"Do I really have to?" Maka complained to the Shinigami.

"Yes, Maka. You have to. I know you don't want to, but you are going to that party," Kid clarified.

Maka pouted but said nothing in response. She knew she couldn't change his mind. It was already sealed from the beginning.

"You may be dismissed. I shall see all of you later in the evening," Kid waved his hand at everyone and they began to shuffle out of the Death Room.

* * *

Maka stood in her room facing her closet. She peered at the collection of articles clothing she had and she decided that she'd wear a dress. One by one, she pulled out the dresses from her closet.

The day after Christmas she had disposed of her white dress that she had worn to the dance because it was torn to shreds pretty much and it was filthy. The back had been completely ripped up from when she skidded across the ground. Such a shame, really. She had loved that dress, but it is what it is.

She decided she would go with a light lime green dress that stopped maybe 6 inches above her knees. She slipped it on and it fell over her hips with ease. It had spaghetti straps and it came straight across her torso. A little tighter than she remembered, but it was still comfortable.

She sat down at her vanity and curled her hair and applied some makeup. Maka had put on her red lipstick and put on some silver and white eyeshadow with some cat-eye style eyeliner. She latched Crona's bracelet around her wrist and put on that simple silver chain necklace. Finally, she slipped her feet into some black heels. Finally, she was done.

She looked at herself in her full body mirror and she decided she looked presentable. She grabbed a black leather jacket and she exited her room and shut the door behind her.

Soul had left earlier to help set up the party, so she and Blair were the only ones in the apartment.

"Maka-chan looks so cute~!" Blair shouted as she poofed into a scantily dressed human. "Is Maka-chan trying to impress the cute boy, nya~!?"

"W-what?" Maka squeaked in surprise.

"Bu-tan knows about you and Crona-kun, ya know~! You're so adorable together, nya~!"

"Stop snooping on people, Blair! And don't tell anyone yet or I'll lock you out of the house!"

Blair pouted and then smiled like a lunatic. "That's okay~! Blair won't say anything~!"

Sadly, Maka knew nothing of the magic cat's shenanigans that she had in mind. "Good. Now are you going to go to Kid's party or are you going to go roaming the streets?"

"Blair will meet you there later, Maka-chan~!"

"Suit yourself!" Maka said as she turned and walked out of the apartment. She probably shouldn't be walking around Death City at night, but she didn't really care. She wasn't going that far. Crona had objected to her walking there by herself, but she assured him that she'd be just fine.

Maka stepped out of the complex and into the chilly air. She pulled the leather jacket on and began to stride in the direction of Kid's manor. The moon grinned maniacally down at the blond meister with blood spouting from its teeth. A bad omen, indeed.

A breeze swept through and Maka pulled the jacket around herself a little tighter and kept walking. She heard something rustle in an alleyway so she paused and stared into the pitch black path. Out stumbled a man who absolutely reeked of pure alcohol and foul body odor. His clothes were just rags that hung off of his body and they were filthy. His skin was caked in a layer of dirt and there were a few cuts with dried blood scattered around his body. He was probably of 40 or 50. An eye sore, really.

Maka knew better than to judge, but she couldn't help it. He made her want to run, but he looked like he needed some help or something.

"Are you okay, sir?" She asked the man.

He looked at her in his drunken stupor and put his hand against a wall to balance himself out. The man looked her up and down and smiled obtusely at her. "Hey there ***hiccup* **little lady."

"Do you need help?" Maka felt a strong urge to bolt from the creepy stare he was giving her. She shifted on her heels as if preparing to run away as the man just kept looking at her. "If you don't need help I think I'll just leave."

She spun on her heel and began to walk away, but the man began to hobble after her. She began to nervously walk faster, but the man kept a pace on her. Finally, she began to break out into a run, leaving the man in her dust.

_I should have done that sooner. He looked like a fuckin' pedophile. _Maka thought to herself. Up ahead, she caught sight of the Gallows Manor. She dashed to the gates and pushed them open, but not before scanning the street where she came from. It was empty, to her relief. She let out a slackened sigh as she caught her breath and walked into the manor.

There was some classical music playing and people socializing everywhere. Kid wasn't lying when he said that there would be a lot of people. There was more than last year and the year before that. They were dressed somewhat casually, but they still looked sophisticated.

Maka looked around for Crona, but she didn't see him. She walked through the crowd to see if he was hanging out with some of the Spartoi and she was right. She found Crona talking to Kilik, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Ox, Harvar, and Kim, so she sauntered over to them.

Crona was wearing some black slacks and a simple white collared shirt. Nothing fancy nor casual and Maka liked it. It suited him very well.

The group quickly caught sight of her and they all waved. She stopped next to Crona as they all began to chit-chat.

"What took you so long, Maka?" Kim asked.

"Sorry, I got held up," Maka replied. She shuddered at the thought of that menacing man.

"By what?" Crona asked with concern.

"Oh, um. Well this really weird man came out of an alleyway, drunk off his ass and I asked if he needed some help or something. He just kept looking at me and when I walked away he began to follow me. When I sped up, he did until I finally began to run. It scared me; I don't know why I stopped to help him. It looked like he already helped himself with that nasty alcohol," Maka explained as she crinkled her nose in disgust.

Crona looked mortified and enraged from the mere thought of someone probably wanting to do terrible things to his Maka. He gripped his arm while trying to suppress the thought of beating the shit out of the freaky man.

"He sounds like a pedophile," Kilik said as he pushed up his glasses.

"He probably was looking for someone petite and vulnerable, like yourself, Maka," Tsubaki said to her friend.

"Good thing you can run in heels," Ox said to the blond meister.

"You're also lucky you didn't trip. There's no telling what he could and would have done," Harvar announced.

A dance song suddenly came on as they all excused themselves so they could dance, leaving Maka and Crona behind to talk.

"Next time, please just let me walk you. I couldn't even imagine what he could have done to you, Maka," Crona said gently to his girlfriend. He brushed a thumb across her face as he looked into her eyes. Maka put her hand over the one on her cheek.

"I'm fine, Crona. Like I said, I should have just ran without asking if he needed help even if it sounds selfish or rude."

"I understand you wanted to help him, but if you had a bad feeling, you should have followed your instincts." Crona pulled her into a hug. "You look very pretty, Maka. No wonder why he went after you. Plus you were _alone_. I'm going to walk with you next time, whether you like it or not."

Blood rushed to Maka's face from him being so overprotective, but she gave in and hugged him back. "I'm sorry.." She apologized.

Crona hugged her tighter. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Maka. I should have walked you anyway. It's my fault."

"Please stop taking blame for something that really isn't your fault. I should have been more careful." Maka closed her eyes and buried her face into his chest. "Please don't blame yourself. I'm okay, aren't I?"

Crona sighed, but he didn't say anything else. He was really glad that she was okay, but he couldn't help but to feel somewhat guilty. He couldn't stand to see Maka hurt in any way. He couldn't live with himself if she did. He needed her more than anything and she needed him. It was just the way it was.

* * *

Thank fuck that the New Year's ball was about to drop. Everyone began to count down from 30. Their shouts and jeers rang out through the manor and they echoed off of the walls.

Maka and Crona were standing in the corner of Kid's great room, counting with everyone. It seemed to take forever as they got to single digits and as they kept their eyes on the giant silver ball hanging from the ceiling in a symmetrical fashion.

"_**5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1!"**_ Everyone shouted in unison. The ball split open and hundreds of small slips of New Year's wishes rained down on their heads along with multicolored confetti and glitter.

Maka quickly pulled an unsuspecting Crona into a kiss which caused his face to become the color of his hair. After a minute, she pulled away leaving him breathless and red. "Happy new year, Crona~!" Maka exclaimed as she pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his own body.

"H-Happy new year, Maka," Crona replied, still blushing from the unexpected kiss.

* * *

Blair arrived at the party around 11:30, making sure not to get noticed in her cat form. She jumped onto the beverage table that had a bowl of punch in the exact center and other symmetrical drinks on each side of it. The cat looked around, but no one was heading for the punch and the others who were getting drinks paid her no mind. She swiftly pulled a bottle from under her hat and dumped its contents into the punch and stirred it all together. She knew the sycthemeister and the swordsman would get thirsty eventually.

She chuckled to herself as she pounced from the table and onto the floor where she turned into a curvacious women in skimpy clothes. _This should spice it up for them~! _Blair thought as she tipped her hat so her playful golden eyes didn't show. She smirked and sauntered away to join the party.

* * *

"Kid! It's fine! Nothing is wrong with the ball!" Liz yelled at the Shinigami as he threw a fit on the floor under the cracked open New Year's ball.

"IT CRACKED ASYMMETRICALLY! I SPENT HOURS MAKING SURE IT DID AND IT DIDN'T AND I'M GARBAGE!" Kid wailed.

"Do you want us to close it?" Liz asked her meister gently.

Kid looked at her with watery eyes. "Yes.." He whispered in response.

Liz smiled at him and called over a maid who set off to work on shutting the ball up. "Better?"

"Better," He replied as he pulled himself off of the ground.

"I thought you said you'd stop with those fits when you became a full Shinigami. After all, your lines are connected and perfectly symmetrical!"

"I try.. it's just that its so big and shiny; I can't help but notice, Elizabeth!"

"It's okay, Kid. Everything is better now. The ball is closed and perfectly symmetrical again like you!"

He looked at her in surprise. _"Y-you think I'm perfectly symmetrical~?" _

"Of course, I do! You are the most symmetrical person there is!"

"Liz.. _you really mean that~!?" _

"YES! Now stop being a freak who panics about such silly asymmetrical things!"

Kid pulled his weapon into a hug. "Thank you, Liz."

Liz blushed and smiled as she hugged him back. "You're welcome, Kid. Now let's go dance!" Liz grabbed his hands and pulled him onto the dance floor.

* * *

It was 1 in the morning and the party still raged on. Crona hadn't had anything to drink in about 3 hours and his throat was dry and scratchy from talking so much. He never really experienced that because he hardly talked, but something inside him changed when he killed Medusa and defeated the Kishin. He promised he would be more confident for Maka; that he would protect her and have the same courage that she did. Crona was still timid, yes, but he rarely stuttered and he strengthened friendships with the people in the Spartoi unit.

He excused himself from Maka and the other people they were talking with to get something to drink. He made his way over to the refreshments and took a cup and put some of the red punch that was in the large crystal bowl in the middle. Crona downed a cup of it in a matter of seconds. It felt great to relieve his dry throat, but it tasted weird; it was bitter. He ignored it and quickly got another cup of it and made his way back to the small group sitting on some of the couches in Kid's enormous living room.

Most of the party was in the great room where Kid hadn't naturally intended. The Shinigami had allowed people to enter quite a few rooms as they pleased, but they seemed to like the great room.

Black*Star, Tsubaki, Soul, and Jacqueline were nowhere to be seen. _They're probably fucking._ Maka thought as she rolled her eyes and put her face in her hand. She wasn't really paying attention to the conversation that was going on, but she was paying attention to Crona. The longer the conversation went on, the more he started to sway and looked confused and starting to act goofy. Her eyes trailed to the cup in his hand every time he took a sip.

She felt that something was wrong and she didn't like it.

While everyone was busy talking, she leaned over towards Crona and ripped the cup from his hands. The smell hit her when she got close enough. She knew that smell anywhere.

It was alcohol.

Vodka, to be exact. Her father smelt of it most of the time, so she caught on quickly to the reek of alcohol.

Maka looked Crona dead in the eye and shot off of the couch. The blond meister yanked her boyfriend off of the couch while saying an apology and saying that they were tired as she excused herself with Crona. The 18 year old male stumbled a little as Maka dragged him up a large set of stairs and practically threw him into an unoccupied bedroom. She slammed the door and locked it behind her.

"What the hell, Crona! Why on earth were you drinking alcohol!?" Maka asked Crona.

"What's alcohol?" The boy stood up unsteadily and wobbled over to her.

"That awful smelling and awful tasting stuff that you were drinking. It messes with your brain and makes you dizzy and feel like shit. It makes you stupid, too! I should know because my father drinks it all the damn time!"

"I feeeeeeel greaaaat, Makaa~"

She facepalmed herself and turned away from him. "You're going to have an awful headache in the morning, Crona. Just go to sleep."

He looked at her with puppy-dog eyes and hugged her from behind. "Are you mad, Makaaaa?"

She sighed. "I'm not mad, but that stuff is rank."

"I'mm sorrrrrry.."

"It's okay, you should really go to-" Maka was cut off by his lips pressing against her neck. She blushed about 10 different shades of red. "C-Crona w-what are you doing?"

He didn't reply as he scraped his teeth against her smooth skin. She blushed impossibly darker. He hadn't been this bold since the Christmas Eve dance. She enjoyed his lips on her neck, but the poor guy is drunk. He might not even want to do this. Alcohol was a nasty thing. _Who the hell spiked the damn punch anyway!?_ Maka thought and she tried to think of who it could have been, but her thoughts were interrupted by an almost painful sucking on her neck. She pulled herself out of Crona's grasp as she rushed over to a mirror to see what the hell he did.

On her neck where his lips were was a small bruise. It wasn't any bruise, it was a hickey. _Shit! How am I supposed to hide this?_ She turned around to look at him and he began to stumble towards her again.

"Did I h-hurt youuu, Makaaaaa?"

"No, but you gave me a damn hickey. This is going to suck if it doesn't go away tomorrow." She blushed with embarrassment at the thought of her friends seeing.

"S-sorrrrrrrrry, Makaaaaaaa.." He came to a halt right in front of her.

"I've never gotten one before." Maka put her hand and felt the spot where it was and turned back to the mirror. "That felt weird.."

"Was it a bad weeeeeiiiirrrdd?

She thought about for a moment. She realized that she.. kind of liked it. "I-I guess not.."

With that, the swordsman kissed the other side of her neck and gave her another one to match. "It has to beeeee symmetricaaaal." He smiled like an idiot. She punched his arm as she put her hand over that one.

"I didn't say you could do it again!"

He giggled and said, "You're redddddd! And waarrrm!" Crona cupped Maka's cheeks.

"That's because you're-" She was cut off again as he smashed his lips against hers. She would've very much enjoyed it if she couldn't taste the vodka that dominated the swordmeister's mouth. She managed to pull away to catch her breath. "Crona, st- MMPH!" Once again, she was cut off by Crona kissing her again. He took the MMPH as a chance to enter her mouth. She enjoyed the feel of his tongue wrestling hers, but she hated the taste that he swapped with her.

She shoved him away with her face on fire. "Crona, you're drunk!" She yelled at him. "You might not even want to do- STOP!" He tried to pull into another kiss, but she put her hand between their mouths. He tried to move it out of the way and nearly kissed her again.

_"I said STOP!"_ Maka pushed him away. A sharp slap echoed off of the walls as Crona stumbled a little and looked back at her with a light red hand mark across his face.

She looked at him with shock. _I can't believe I just did that!_

"I'm so sorry, Crona! I-I didn't mean to!"

"It'sss okaaay." He smiled at her daftly.

"No, it's not okay!" She ran over and hugged him. "I'm sorry!" Maka kissed his cheek in hopes to make him feel better.

He giggled again. "I looovvveee youuu, Makaaaa~"

"I love you, too, but tell me that when you're sober!" She guided him over to the bed and made him lay down. He quickly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down next to him and he cuddled her like she was a teddy bear. She wiggled and squirmed trying to get out of his grip, but she finally gave in. Crona was asleep, but he held a death grip on her. She sighed and returned the favor by cuddling into him. He smiled in his sleep and nuzzled his face against her hair.

Sure enough, sleep enveloped the scythemeister as well.


	19. Watashi wa anata o aishite

**Hey, HEY, wazzup, WAZZUP!?**

**Sorry that last chapter took so long.**

**I just wasn't in the mood to write because some personal problems came up.**

**It is a possibility that I will take a week or more on a chapter, but I won't abandon.**

**That, I can promise you.**

**My New Year's resolution would be to at least reach 40 or 50 different countries with my story. Before 2013 ended I had reached 25 different countries within a month, so I hope I do make it that far! Every view means the world to me as does every favorite and follow!**

**I seriously I LOVE you guys more than you'll ever know!**

**I feel like I'm still anchored to sanity because of all the support given knowing that someone cares and likes something that I do. **

**I know how overrated that sounds, but it's true and I mean every. Last. Word. **

**Anyway, I love you guys and I hope you're having a wonderful time with 2014 so far!**

**Fuck yeah, 4,000 view celebration as well!**

* * *

Maka's eyes opened and she shielded them from the sunlight that shone through the windows. She sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed cautiously so she didn't awake the sleeping boy next to her. She tip-toed over to the mirror and checked her neck. _Of course they're still there!_ Maka thought. _Just my luck!_

Maka heard the pink-haired meister stir in the bed behind her, so she turned around and faced him. He moaned as he sat up and rubbed his face.

When he finally noticed her, Crona groaned out the words, "Makaaaa... my head huuurts.."

"I told you it would. You're lucky I didn't bring a book with me!" Maka replied seemingly sternly, but she sat beside the boy and hugged him. "What did we learn?"

"N-not to drink stuff that tastes funny.."

"Close enough. Please don't drink alcohol again; it takes a nasty toll on your body and brain. You're lucky you didn't vomit everywhere." She pulled away and cupped his cheeks. "We need a toothbrush and some toothpaste for you, as well." She kissed his nose and a pink tint appeared on the swordsman's face.

"Does alcohol make your face hurt?"

"What?"

"My left cheek stings a little."

"Oh.." Maka remembered what happened. "About that.."

Crona's eyes trailed to her neck because of the bruises the adorned either side of her neck. His eyes widened in fright as he brushed his fingers against both of them. "W-what happened!? D-did I hurt you!?"

"Oh.. those.. umm.." Blood rushed to the blond meister's face as she recalled all of the events of the wee hours of the morning. Crona's eyes still were wide in shock as he darted between her eyes and the hickies. "You didn't hurt me, b-but you're the one who made these.." She blushed even more. "They're.. hickies.. they don't really hurt, but they.. um.. show affection.."

"B-but, they're bruises!"

"I think it'd be easier if I.. um.. showed you rather then explaining.."

Crona gasped as Maka put her lips against his neck which reddened his already pink face. He couldn't do anything but sit there as the girl sucked on his throat. It felt good to him, but it didn't explain bruising. All of a sudden, he felt an almost poking sensation as Maka suddenly sucked his neck harder than before as she pulled back.

"Go look in the mirror," Maka ordered. He nodded as he stood up, hypnotized. Crona gazed into the mirror at the forming contusion on the side of his neck. "That's a hickey," Maka spoke as she came up behind him.

"I-I did t-that to y-you?" Crona asked her with timidness.

"Twice.." Crona noticed how her face got impossibly redder.

"W-what exactly happened last night, Maka? Everything is a little hazy to me.." He frowned in thought as he stared at himself in the mirror and as Maka continued to stand by him.

"Basically, someone spiked the punch and you got tipsy. I excused us so I could lecture you in this room. I was going to leave the room because I told you to go to sleep, but you hugged me from behind and asked if I was angry. I said no and when I began to tell you to go to bed again, you gave me the first hickey. When I went over to the mirror, you gave me another one on the other side saying something about how it needed to be symmetrical." She paused for his reaction. He looked like he was on fire. "I started to get warm and you cupped my face in your hands and kissed me twice. You went in a third time, but you were drunk and I thought that... well anyway I had to slap you across the face to make you stop and that's why your face stings a bit. I guided you over to the bed, but you pulled me down with you and we went to sleep. That's pretty much what happened.." Maka trailed off in thought.

"Oh," was all Crona could think to say. He looked at the ground with more embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, Maka.."

Maka stepped in front of him and tilted his chin up so he was looking at her. She smiled on of her glorious smiles at him. "Everyone is going to make mistakes with alcohol at least once. Unless you're my father who makes it many, _many _times without caring."

"Maka.. I-I love you, Maka.."

She smiled even brighter at him and hugged him. "I love you too. Now let's go get cleaned up and leave."

* * *

**2 Motherfucking Weeks Later**

The hunt for The Black Mass was just a wild goose chase. They found clues and followed them, but they led absolutely nowhere.

On top of that Maka had been getting nightmares. She refused to wake anyone up or even tell them about the nightmares; not even Crona. They hadn't been so bad where she was screaming, but they were bad enough to deprive her of sleep and being afraid at going back to sleep.

Crona glanced over at Maka in Class Crescent Moon. She had dark circles under her eyes and her face was flushed. Her usual piercing green eyes seemed dull as well and they were half-lidded. Maka had her face in her left hand as she sprawled down notes on whatever Professor Stein was saying into her green spiral notebook. She looked like she was about to pass out, but she fought to keep her head up.

Maka knew she had a long day ahead of her. It was only first period and she wanted to pass out. She had gotten only an hour of sleep that night and she couldn't go back to sleep.

She felt someone looking at her and she looked to her left to see Crona looking at her with concern in his pale blue eyes. Maka smiled as bright as she could, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Maka," Crona whispered, "you don't look well.. did you get any sleep?"

"I'm fine," She lied. She hated lying to him, but she thought he would just freak out if he found out about the nightmares. The swordsmeister obviously didn't believe her, but he said nothing as she went back to focusing on the class.

Crona just stared at the Professor, not really listening to what he was saying. He just kept pondering on why she looked so tired and upset and why she wasn't telling him.

This happened all day. Whenever he got a chance in the classes he had with her, he would glace over to study her for a minute and he managed not to get caught by her. In all honesty, he felt helpless because he didn't know what to do or how he could help her.

* * *

It was the final class of the day which Crona didn't have with Maka. It was mathematics which he wasn't entirely great at, but he still understood most of the stuff that was going on. Maka's father, Spirit, was substituting; it was probably because the Death Scythe was good at keeping track of his money when he bought alochol and paid prostitutes.

Crona sorted through his mind and everything just became abstract background noise. What was going on that would be so bad that she wouldn't tell him? _What the hell could it be? _He thought.

The Shibusen end-of-class bell scared the shit out of him. **DING DONG! DEAD DONG!** Crona jumped in his seat and snapped out of his trance. He stood up and began to pack up his things hurriedly, but everyone else was a lot faster, so he was the only one left in the class.. besides Spirit.

"Crona." The Death Scythe glared daggers at the young meister. "Come here. _Now._"

Crona gave him an odd look, but he grabbed his books and shuffled down the stairs and stopped in front of Maka's father.

"Who the _hell _do you think you are to date my daughter?" Spirit growled. "You can either break up with her or I'll break _you._" Spirit jabbed his finger at the meister.

The swordsman was _pissed. _Crona balled his fists and his pupils dilated. Pissed wasn't the right word. He was absolutely livid. "Who the hell are _you _to tell me to break up with Maka? She's the best thing that's _ever _happened to me! How _dare _you try to tear me from her! I love her more you'll ever know _Spirit,_" Crona said venomously.

Spirit grabbed the teen by the shirt and got nose to nose with him. "Listen here, _you._ She's _my _daughter! I won't let you take away her and her innocence!"

Crona shoved the man away roughly. "Who the hell do you think I am!? You think I'm her boyfriend just so I can have sex with her!? I love Maka! I'm nothing like you, Spirit!"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Spirit threw a punch at Crona, but the meister caught his fist and judo-flipped him. Spirit arched his back and yelped in pain as it connected with the ground.

Crona leaned down and got right in Spirit's face. "Did I make you angry?" He said dangerously calm. The redhead was huffing with rage, but he said nothing and gave up.

Crona picked up his books and exited the classroom leisurely and looked around for Maka. He spotted her walking down the hallway towards him alone. She looked like she was about to pass out. Crona quickly went over to her and hugged her. Maka practically fell on him. She didn't mean to, but he was so comfortable and she was so tired. She just wanted to fall asleep in his arms, but she quickly composed herself and stood up straight.

"Maka, why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Crona asked her as he pulled her over to bench to sit down. "You look extremely exhausted."

They plopped down on the bench and Maka was silent for a few minutes until she spoke up. "I just.. I-I don't want to talk about it yet.. I-I'll tell you tomorrow.."

Crona's face softened as he pulled her into another hug. Maka immediately melted into it and she buried her face into his chest. He absently began to play with one of her honey blond pig-tails by winding and unwinding it around his finger. Maka found the action comforting as she felt herself lose consciousness and she soon found herself asleep in Crona's embrace.

* * *

Maka woke up with a start in her bed. _How did I get here?_ She thought. The blond meister looked at her clock and it read 4 pm. Thank Death she wasn't asleep that long. She felt better especially since there were no nightmares or anything related to them in her hazy dream. Maka stood up and spotted her bag propped up next to her desk. She opened it and pulled out her homework and went to work on it.

She found it awfully hard to concentrate which was unlike her. Even when she was worn out she could concentrate, but this was different for some reason. It was like her mind was just floating or everything was contained in jell-o. It was a weird feeling. She ignored it and attempted to work on her literature homework. She fidgeted with her mechanical pencil and moved onto another subject finding that she couldn't focus on the literature. She kept flipping through the papers that were now scattered across the desk. Usually they were in neat and separate piles, but she kept rifling through all the papers for something that she could do at the moment.

This went on for about another 2 hours. All of a sudden, she got an awful headache and she felt overheated. She began to sweat as she made her way over to her door and opened it. Maka clambered into the kitchen and took a water bottle from the refrigerator and chugged it. Instead of finishing all of it like a normal person, she dumped it all over herself. It relieved the heat on her skin almost immediately and she sighed in content.

Soul looked at her like she was on drugs or something. "Uh, Maka? Are you okay over there?" The albino asked.

"Wha-? O-oh. Yeah I'm okay. It just go really hot in my room out of nowhere. I'll clean up the water in a minute," She replied.

"There's food in the fridge. I didn't know when you were going to wake up.."

"I've been up for about two and a half hours trying to do homework."

"How come you didn't come out?"

"I-I had a lot.." Maka recalled the pages that she skipped through and all the words and numbers that swam through her head.

"Did you get it done?"

"Y-yeah," Maka lied.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"I'm sorry, Soul.. I'm really tired.." Maka said with a frown as she cleaned up the water.

"Okay. Suit yourself," Soul finished as he turned back to the TV.

Maka skipped out on food because she didn't feel very hungry. Homework was a no-go for her so she quickly jumped in the shower and into her pajamas. She honestly didn't want to go to sleep and endure nightmares, but she was about to pass out again. She collapsed on her bed and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She'd have to thank Crona tomorrow for bringing her home.

* * *

_She was floating. It was pitch-black except for the glow that radiated from her skin and soul. She saw the halo and wings that embellished her soul and the attack that happened at the winter dance branching off of her. Maka looked at down at her form and saw a flowing white dress hanging off of her as well. The shimmering fabric floated through the emptiness mindlessly. She just was suspended there. _

_ There was nothing in sight; it was like empty space aside from the lack of stars and supernovas and galaxies. There was also that sense of loneliness here and it bothered her. She had been here before.. just floating around in nothingness. She'd only been here twice before and nothing had ever happened, so those were the nights when she had gotten more sleep than usual. _

_ Then an unmistakably recognizable voice projected from seemingly every direction._

"My, my. It seems your madness has grown.. especially with my nightmares," _The Black Mass paused to let out a skin-crawling chuckles that reverberated in the girl's ears. _"You are weak.. just give in.. **or I'll take you myself.**"

_"I won't let you take my soul!" Her dream self yelled into the vast emptiness. _

_ He scoffed. _"Have it your way."

_Black wisps of floating liquid came at her from behind and at her sides. They wrapped around her rapidly. She clawed at them as a tunnel of light appeared in the distance. Maka reached for it in desperation, but the black liquid.. black blood bonded her arms to her sides and it closed around her neck. She heaved in a useless attempt for oxygen and futilely tried to free her arms. _

_ It snaked its way across her face and covered her mouth and then her nose. Maka's eyes widened in horror because she couldn't breathe. _

_ The black blood engulfed her. _

* * *

Maka woke up in terror as she emitted an ear-splitting shriek from her throat, but it was cut off by the lack of oxygen. She still couldn't breathe. The clock read 3 am.

She fell onto the floor and crawled over to her door as she hacked and heaved for air. Tears streamed down her face as she made it to the door and ripped it open. The hall light was on and Soul's door was wide open. It was empty.

Maka weakly called out for him, but she had no answer. No one was home. She was alone.

She puked up blood and when she looked down at it, she saw that it was riddled with black blood. She panicked as she screamed again. He green eyes were wide with pure fear. She scrambled backwards and began to drag herself to the door while feebly croaking "help" over and over. Her body began to shake and jerk in spasms and she puked up more blood, with even more black mixed in it. Her vision was blurred as she slumped to the ground while still shaking.

The lock in the door clicked open as Blair came in with a huge smile on her face, but it fell when she saw Maka curled into a frail ball on the floor surrounded by red and black blood.

"Maka!" Blair ran over to the young woman and knelt beside her. The cat-woman picked up Maka. "Pum-pumpkin!" Blair shouted as large floating pumpkin appeared out on the balcony. Blair then set Maka on top of it and climbed on it as well, cradling the blond meister's head in her lap.

Blair wiped away Maka's tears as the scythemeister stared up at her with wide green eyes that seemed traumatized.

"Everything is going to be okay.. everything is going to be okay, Maka," Blair whisped over and over to the girl as the pumpkin continued to zoom to Professor Stein's laboratory. The poor cat had to check multiple times to see if the delicate young lady was still breathing. Tears fell onto Maka's face as Blair's compassion and motherly-like instincts hit her like a ton of bricks. Blair cared for the girl like she was her own kitten and she wouldn't let anything happen to her kittens.

The stitched building came it view as the pumpkin halted right at the doorstep. Blair carefully jumped off and pounded at the door and yelled in desperation.

Stein's door flew open and as he noticed it was the cat and he nearly shut it on her, but the woman stopped it with her hand in a burst of strength.

"Stein, it's Maka! Something is wrong! You need to help her!" Blair yelled with tears leaking from the corners of her golden eyes. Stein looked behind her and saw the blond girl on the giant pumpkin behind her. He rushed out in a flash and picked up the girl.

"Blair, go find Crona, Soul, and Kim now and meet me at the Shibusen dispensary!" Stein ordered her. She nodded and jumped on the pumpkin and it flew away.

Maka was limp in Stein's arms as he called Marie who came down and gasped as soon as she saw Maka.

"What happened!?" Marie screeched.

"Quiet, you'll wake the baby. Please help me get her in the medical car," he said.

Marie grabbed the car keys from a hook and she opened the garage door and the back of the van. She pulled out a gurney and Stein placed Maka on it and they put it back in the van and secured it. Marie quickly went to grab her baby and she placed the baby into a car seat in the front (sounds bad, I know, but it's safer than you think). She then climbed in the back with Maka and held the girl's hand as she began to hack up more red and black blood as the van began to move. The weapon wiped away the blood with a sanitary towel and she also wiped off the sweat that beaded on Maka's forehead.

"You poor thing.." Marie whispered with concern. "I promise that you'll be okay. We'll do everything we can to find out what happened and how we can help you."

Maka weakly nodded with half-lidded eyes as she began to lose consciousness once more. She fought it so she wouldn't have that nightmare again. Once more, her body began to tweak with more spasms and Marie began to use her healing wavelength on her. It ceased most of the spasms, but she still felt them surging through her body.

The van came to a sharp stop as the back doors of the van flew open and Maka was lifted on the gurney and to the ground. The gurney moved through the hallways of Shibusen as she hazily watched the lights on the ceiling blur by as she rushed through the long corridors. She was lifted off of the gurney and placed on a hospital bed where Stein put a needle in her arm to draw out some of her blood for a test. Marie set up the medical shit and began to pour more of her healing wavelength into Maka until Kim arrived.

Maka let out another screech as if the healing hurt her. She coughed up even more blood. The door flew open as Kim and Crona rushed in.

"What the hell happened!?" Kim shouted.

"M-Maka!" Crona yelled as he saw his girlfriend's form on the bed.

"K-Kurona..." She croaked his name in Japanese. She hardly spoke the language even though she knew it very well.

Kim ran over to Maka's side and started to heal her. Maka screamed again and jerked under Kim's hands. This time, however, she didn't stop screaming. Maka cried and shook and coughed up blood. Crona ran over to her as well and took her hand. She seemed to calm slightly by his touch, but she still could make them just about deaf.

All of a sudden, she just stopped. Maka just went limp, but she was still breathing.. barely.

"What the hell is going on..?" Crona asked rhetorically.

"It seems that Maka has been infected with black blood, but it's from a powerful being, which I am going to assume that it was The Black Mass. He spoke about getting Maka's soul, so he probably tried to infect her with it completely and her soul and body is trying to rid itself of it," Stein answered matter-of-factually.

"B-but how?" Crona asked him with wide pale blue eyes.

"From the looks of the bags under her eyes, I'd say dreams. The Black Mass is just.. a mass. It has no form, really. So it could materialize in her dreams or in this case, nightmares. The lack of sleep and the vivid images from these nightmares probably wore her down and drove her a little insane," Stein said.

"You got that all from blood and looking at her?" Kim asked.

"Observation," He answered blatantly.

Crona raised Maka's hand to his mouth and he kissed it gently. Stein took notice of it as he raised and eyebrow and smiled knowingly.

"Will she be okay, Stein?" Crona questioned in a whisper.

"With some healing magic and medication, she should be okay, everything will be just fine," Stein answered the young man's question once more. "Since it's late and you obviously have no intention of leaving her side, you can take off school tomorrow. I don't expect you to be able to concentrate after something like this. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you tomorrow when she wakes up." The older man smiled at Crona as he twisted the screw in his head. Crona smiled back and nodded in agreement and he turned back to Maka.

"I know she'll be okay.." Crona said to himself. "I believe that and in you, Maka." Crona smiled even more.

Maka seemed to stabilize a little more as if in response to his words. She smiled faintly like she was having a good dream for once and she gripped his hand in her sleep. "Kurona.." She whispered again in Japanese. "Anata o aishite.."

"Watashi mo anata o aishite, Maka.." Crona whispered back to her as he kissed her forehead. "Watashi mo anata o aishite.."


	20. Fragments of the Past

**Again, I'm sorry for the long wait, I just wanted this chapter to be good considering the fact that it is my 20th chapter of my very first fanfiction!**

**I'm not going to hold you guys up with my author's note, so onwards!**

**Some of the stuff in here is taken directly from the mangapanda .com translation from the Soul Eater manga written by Atsushi yourself, so I just wanted to give them credit for an awesome translation.**

**50,000 words and 5,000 view celebration!**

**ALL HAIL THE NUMBER 5!**

**42-42-564**

**HELLA!**

**FOR NARNIA!**

**Or Canada, which is Narnia.**

**If you die in Canada, you don't die in real life.**

**Excuse me while I seize Australia and Antarctica.**

* * *

Her chest rose and fell slow and steadily. The oxygen mask fogged and defogged with each breath that Maka took. Dark circles were etched under her eyes and her honey blond hair fanned out across her dispensary pillow. Whatever the hell happened really took a toll on the sycthemeister. Crona held her hand as he zoned out trying to calculate how this happened exactly.

* * *

_She was floating again. This time she felt nothing. Maka felt no pain, no fear, nothing. She could feel wisps of pointless matter dance and brush across her pale fingertips. She was suspended in nothingness once more. Her hair was loose and she watched it weave in and out around the frame of her face. She was still in her white pajama tank top and her gray, black, and white plaid flannels; quite different than the white dress and angel wings and halo she bore in her previous nightmare. _

_ A soft blue soul with little wings and a miniature halo floated into her view. No, it wasn't just any soul; it was her's. Maka grazed the apex of one of the tiny fluttering wings and it fluttered a little more. She let out a halfhearted giggle at the scene until another soul glided into her field of vision. _

_ It was a subtle pink shade and it radiated a mix of madness, sorrow, relief, happiness, and peace. It confused her, but she knew the wavelength better than anyone did. That was because it was Crona's soul. His soul inched closer to her own, but every time it almost touched it, it pulled away like it was afraid. Crona's soul visibly shook slightly the closer it was. _

_ She did what she thought was a rational as it could get._

_ She hooped her arms around his shivering soul._

_ His soul welcomed her own warmly and it began to cease its trembling as she entered._

* * *

_The calming sound of waves lapping against a sandy white beach filled Maka's ears. The smell of sea salt and ocean spray invaded her nostrils. The small little world she was on curved over the bright horizon and lush green palm tress with their fonds swaying in the wind and oases dotted the miniscule desert. It was like a personal paradise compared to the emptiness that existed here once before. The lazy sun hung high in the vibrant blue sky, drooling shamelessly. Puka shells littered the beach along with miscellaneous lost things that Crona's soul wished to salvage. She didn't notice a younger version of her lover anywhere in sight like the first time she was in his soul, but she did see islands in the middle of the ocean. _

_ They were dry spots on his soul that so badly needed to be hydrated and relieved of the painful memories the land bore once. _

_ Maka's form began to sail across the waters until the breeze gently set her down at an island. The island was of a respectable size; possibly 20 feet by 15 feet. Waves continued to slosh against the stark shore. There was a single door smack in the middle of the barren chunk of sand. It was so dark in color that it looked like a shadow. It didn't belong in a wonderful soul like this. It was simply of place. _

_ Curious, she stepped towards the ominous door while her bare feet lightly kicked the sugar-like sand underneath them. Tentatively, she placed the pads of her fingers on it. Immediately, she felt tremors of fear, madness, cowardice, and guilt surge through her body. She shouldn't be here; it was wrong and she was intruding, but something urged her to find out what was happening beyond that sinister door of anxiety. _

_ All of a sudden, a shadow cast itself over her. Maka jumped back in surprise as she took notice of the foreboding apparition on the ground now in front of her._

_ "Hello," It spoke. Maka just stared at it with her mouth hanging open. A shadow talked to her. She then realized that this was Crona's shadow. It was _his _soul after all. "That door only opens inwards."_

_ Her breath hitched and it continued speaking. "If you go inside of that door, you'll find nothing but his past and memories. Are you sure you want to do this? You can pass if you'd like."_

_ Maka began to talk, "I-I want to see what's behind the door. I-I need to find out-"_

_ "Find out what? Why he is like the way he is? Why he is so demented? Or is it because you're so curious that you must peep your head into every door of someone's soul? You can pass if you'd like."_

_ "I just want to find out what is bothering him and why there are still dry spots littered across his soul."_

_ "There are always going to be islands in the oceans, darling. Enter at your own risk. You must also realize that you cannot simply break the door down, for it will never disappear. The pieces will still be there and they'll be glued back together. Remember that this door opens inwards." With that, the shadow dissipated and recoiled back into the door. _

_ Maka shook off the warnings of the shadow and braced herself and she grasped the handle of the menacing door and pushed it open._

* * *

It was only 4:42 a.m. and Crona was still wide awake, not willing to sleep until he knew that Maka would be completely okay. He scoffed to himself as he took a sudden realization that her weapon was nowhere to be seen. According to Blair, Soul wasn't even in the apartment and Kim probably was in a hurry to get to Maka to warn Soul and Jacqueline. Crona knew that Stein called Jacqueline and Soul's mirrors, but neither of them picked up. Stein had even tried calling their phones! Unbelievable and unacceptable!

Maybe he shouldn't blame them completely for not being here. It was just the wee hours of the morning, but they should still be able to hear that annoying ring of the mirrors and the music that blared from their tiny phones.

Hopefully, her weapon will be considerate enough to visit her.

* * *

_The door swung open, revealing nothing but darkness. She stepped into the threshold and ventured a few shuffles forward. The door slammed behind her, stealing the only source of light and encasing her in darkness. She whipped her body around and felt for the doorknob, but it was gone and she was blinded._

_ A light flickered behind her and she turned from the spot where the door once was. Bright lights came on one by one down a long corridor. The floor was checkered black and white and the walls along with the floor were gruesome- pure white with blood splattered against the fine paint job. Intestines and organs were strewn amongst the floor caked with blood and she saw a heart that was definitely not attached to a body still beating. The stench was putrid; it was like a mix of upchuck, sickly-sweet blood, and decaying flesh. More and more doors lined the hallway. _

_ Maka also saw bodies mutilated, limp, and lifeless on the floor. Some looked like mental patients and some of them looked like nurses. Their intestines were ripped out and settling atop their chests and some of them looked like they were strangled by them according to the ones that were wrapped around their necks. Some of the victims' necks were slit and crimson blood still sputtered from the deep slashes. Arms and legs that were dismembered from the owners were scattered. The bones were very noticeable; they protruded out from the unattached limbs as the blood pooled onto the floor, mixing and conjoining with the different types of blood. It looked as if they were simply ripped from the bodies and carelessly discarded. _

_ The peoples' faces were froze over in shock with splotches of blood that speckled their once fair features. The worse thing was probably their eyes. They were wide open with absolute horror and fear, glazed over and empty; tears still collected in the corners of their eyes. Maka saw blue, green, brown, even gray eyes staring with stiff and departed expressions at the ceiling in failed desperation. She felt sick. She wanted to projectile vomit everywhere. It was petrifying. Maka placed a hand over her mouth to contain her retching. She couldn't help it as tears fell off her face. _

_ Pretty blue orbs floated over their pale bodies. The rest of them that was whole and the only thing that made them human- their souls. Maka let another tear slide out from the episode in front of her. _

_ Her eyes wandered over the rancid scene until they fell onto a white article of clothing stained with the maroon blood. _

_ It was a straightjacket. _

_ She slowly began to take steps towards it, ignoring the sticky and cold red substance that coated the bottom of her feet which left clear prints with every step she took. She gulped and shoved down her barf as she squatted down and picked up the straightjacket with her right thumb and index finger on a swatch that was not defiled by the blood of the innocent. _

_ Maka heard the clicking of a door and she searched from where the sound came from. _

_ Her heart skipped a beat when the all too familiar boy with thick pink locks came sauntering out of one of the many doors. His skin was scrubbed clean and he was in a plain black robe with his signature shoes. Two long black arms jutted from his back and they toted the swords "Abyss of Despair" and "The Uncleanliness." Crona himself bore "The Darkness" in his right hand, which allowed his left hand to be free. _

_ "Ragnarok." Crona called on his weapon with a blank face. The Demon Sword opened its mouths and sucked up all the souls like a vacuum cleaner. Their responses just disappeared. Maka sat on her knees with wide eyes of shock. "It feels nice to be free."_

_ **"From that bitch or that straightjacket?" **Ragnarok asked._

_ Crona let out a twisted giggle. "Both." His mouth ripped into an unnatural smile. His eyes darted over the massacre and they fell directly on Maka. But that was impossible, right? She was just experiencing a memory, right? _

_ "I keep seeing her! Make it stop!" Crona grabbed both sides of his head and he winced in pain as he slouched over. _

_ Maka didn't know what to do. He could see her. This wasn't supposed to happen! She didn't want to be here! But she needed to know! This is obviously after he killed that snake bitch, so he must have gotten more off his rocker.. that was it, right!? He couldn't _really _see her, could he? Maka gripped the soiled straightjacket in both her hands as she just sat there, frozen in shock and fear. _This is what happened to him and I wasn't there to help him on the road to sanity! _She thought as more tears dripped onto the floor and the white and red article that was knotted in her hands. _

_ "She's crying.. I don't know how to deal with that!" Crona yelled._

_ **"Just hit her with a sword! That should stop her crying!" **Ragnarok screeched at him as he hit Crona with the hilt of a sword._

_ Crona's back straightened immediately as he whipped his head up. His eyes were an empty and distant gray as his face broke out once more into that maddened grin. He gripped his swords as he began to stride over her. He stopped two feet in front of her and he tilted her head up with "The Darkness" very gently. With his free hand, he caressed some of her hair.  
_

_ "You don't have to cry anymore, little one. You may die. You're not real. You're not real!" Crona pulled his sword and hand back and swung it at her. _

It's just an illusion, right!? THIS ISN'T REAL! _She screamed in her head. _

_ At the same moment, a crevice opened up in the floor and Maka spiraled down, shrieking._

* * *

_She hit a floor, **hard. **Maka's back arched when it connected with solid ground. She laid there for a few minutes, recovering and moaning in pain. She sat up and took in her surroundings. _

_ She sat in a narrow hallway with a door directly in front of her. It was dark and the only light sources was natural light far down the hallway and a bright light coming from under the door._

_ She heard voices coming from behind it. Maka took a risk and opened it quietly. She peeked in and saw Crona and.. Medusa! She clenched that doorknob and gritted her teeth. _

_ Medusa and Crona sat at a table, facing each other, although Crona was staring at a plate pasta, slowly eating it. _

_ "Eat as much as you like. If you want seconds, we have plenty of them," Medusa said to him. The bitch never showed him a single ounce of kindness, so why is she doing it now? "After you have finished eating, you can take a shower and rest." Crona didn't respond. "Sorry for all the things I have done to you." Still no response. "They were really painful for you." No response. "But you had endured everything and grew up. Now you are a wonderful child. Thanks to you, my research on the black blood is almost done. After that, the only thing that remains is to make to make the Kishin yours."_

_ Still, Crona said nothing. He just stared at his pasta. Medusa stood up and walked over to his side of the table._

_ "Thank you, Crona," As if that was weird enough, she did something even more strange- she hugged him. "You are my pride."_

_ Crona's face was red. He didn't seem to know how to react to a witch who was so cold to him showing him affection. _

_ "You cannot do that. You can not be so gentle to me.." He finally managed. "You.. you.. Medusa-sama is my mother.. my mother... I became like this because I heard your words. I threw everything away... and yet you behave like a normal mother..."_

_ They stayed like that for a few seconds until Crona summoned one of his swords. He impaled Medusa in the stomach. _

_ **"Crona..?"** The snake bitch asked._

_ "I don't want to hear gentle words.. they annoy me. I don't understand their meaning." He twisted his sword that was pierced through his mother's front. "I threw everything away as you told me, because you told me to do so. **I THREW EVERYTHING AWAY BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME TO DO SO!**" Crona ripped out the sword as Medusa gasped in pain. Then he stuck two into her. "And yet that's unfair, mother... because you made me throw away the only one who loved me. You're fucking kidding me; I'm still the only one who lives with an old bat like you." _

_ Maka had to force down more tears. He continued to speak. "I threw away even Maka, and yet.. if you threw everything away, that means I was abandoned as well?" He slashed the swords two different ways and Medusa fell on the floor with blood pooling out from her cut up body. **"AND YET! AND YET! AND YET! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!? GIVE ME BACK MY MOTHER! MY PRECIOUS MOTHER WOULD NEVER SAY THOSE WORDS!" **Crona pulled his sword up and slashed at her over and over. _

_ He huffed as he clasped two of his swords in his hands. "She is dead, I killed her," He stated with an insane smile. "Maybe she was important to me, but it doesn't matter.. I don't know that."_

_ **"NOW IT IS COMPLETE! YOU HAVE THROWN AWAY THE LAST THING YOU RELIED ON AND THE BLACK BLOOD IS COMPLETE!" **Medusa's butchered form cackled. Crona raised his sword one last time. "I love you, Crona." The sword then came down on her and she let out her final breath as her blood splattered everywhere for the last time. _

_ "..It was just a simple story about killing people, mother." Crona sat back down and resumed eating his food like nothing happened. _

_ **"What the hell was that, you twisted little fuck!? You just killed her and now you're sitting down eating pasta!? What the fuck is wrong with you!? I'm not complaining that that stupid old whore is gone, but you're just eating with her mangled corpse right there!? Even I'm losing my appetite!" **Ragnarok shouted at his meister. _

_ "We can leave after I shower and we rest. We are never returning here. Now eat your fill or you won't get anything for awhile," Crona stated blankly. _

_ **"Alright, you little shit. Get me a plate!"**_

_Crona quickly gave his weapon a plate heaped with pasta and he helped himself to another serving of it. _

_ Maka closed the door and leaned against it. Her hand was over her mouth trying to comprehend what she saw. _So that's what happened? _She thought. _Oh my god.

_ She began to shake with sobs. Why couldn't she have found him sooner? Why did he have to go through so much because of her? Why? Why, why, why!? It was so unfair! She never should have trusted Medusa when they invaded Arachnophobia! It wasn't supposed to happen like this!_

_ Crona's other self shadow extended down the long hallway from the natural light. _

_ "I told you that you couldn't fix this. You cannot just wipe away these memories. They hurt too much." A tear traced its way down the shadow's face. "I'm sorry."_

_ "Y-you don't need to be s-sorry," Maka said through her sniffles. "I-I should have l-listened t-to y-you, but I-I needed to f-find out.."_

_ "I understand your goals now. You don't want him to fall to madness again.. not to The Black Mass... I'm sorry I misjudged you and your goals. You may go. Please talk to Crona. Please help him as he's helped you." The shadow retreated to the light and faded away. The same black door materialized in front of her across the hallway. Maka shakily stood up and opened it, revealing the bright sun that blinded her again. _

_ She stepped back onto the soft sugar sand and shut the door behind her. Maka rested her head and hands tenderly and cried again. "I'm sorry. I'll fix you. I promise!" She said with determination in her green eyes. She reluctantly ripped her body from the door and made her way to the edge of the island. The sea spray brushed over her skin, cooling it from the heat of the drooling sun. Maka allowed herself to go ankle-deep into the salty water as she enjoyed the way it felt running over and back on her feet. She saw a tiny red crab skitter over the sand. "Your ocean is filled with life, whether you can see it or not," She whispered with an affectionate smile on her face. _

_ The breeze that carried her to this dry spot in this ocean picked her up once more and lifted her up high. It felt like a bunch of gentle little kisses that nuzzled against her skin. It raised her up and up and up until she saw a bright light. _

* * *

Maka's eyes opened slowly and with a lot of squinting. The sun was shining directly in her eyes. That wasn't the only sucky thing because she was wearing an oxygen mask. She hated being in the dispensary, let alone wearing a goddamn oxygen mask. Maka tore it off her face and dropped it on the bed. She sat up groggily and looked around the vacant room; she was the only one there. A bag of her stuff sat on a chair nearby.

She yawned and stretched and then she peeked at the clock which read 9:30 a.m. Maka felt so exhausted, but she really didn't want to sleep again in fear of dreams like her two previous ones. As soon as she stood up, she felt sick so she quickly ran over to the bathroom and hurled in the toilet. The last of the black blood made it's way out of her system and down the toilet. She flushed it with a sigh of relief and then she rummaged through her bag for her toothbrush which someone thankfully packed. She also pulled out a fresh set of clothes and underwear.

After she showered in the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and changed, she left the bathroom to find no one there. _Where is everyone? _She couldn't help her curiosity, so she ventured down the hallways of Shibusen.

* * *

"My Lord, what are we supposed to do about this? Black blood tried to infect the top Death Scythe meister with a Grigori soul and The Black Mass almost succeeded," Stein said to Kid.

"What state was she in when you found her, Blair?" Kid waved off Stein's question and faced the cat.

"Well, Blair found poor Maka in a little ball on the floor hacking up nasty black and red blood, so Blair picked her up and brought her to Stein," The cat explained with her ears flattened against her purple hair.

"Could you put more detail into that, Stein?" Kid asked, turning back the the meister.

"Her eyes shook, she was sweating, and there was skin discoloration. She just kept hacking the blood up trying to get rid of the black blood. It seemed almost like a soul rejection, if you ask me." Stein pushed his glasses up with his index finger. "It had most of the symptoms. Discoloration, sweating, spasms, pain. Not to mention the black blood that was inside of her bloodstream."

"I-I don't think it was a soul rejection and I don't think you do either, Professor Stein," Crona said with his voice laced with worry. "I-I think that you think it's something else. I know that you know it's something else."

"Are you sure, because it could just be a soul rejection, Crona," Soul spoke up.

"I'm sure. You know it's a fact that this was definitely not a soul rejection, Soul," He responded.

Soul opened his mouth to speak, but was cut of. "It was The Black Mass," Maka said with dismay as she emerged from behind a guillotine arch.

"M-Maka! You're okay!" Crona exclaimed with a smile.

Maka looked at him for a second and all of his memories from her dream hit her like a ton of bricks. This sweet boy was the same boy from those memories. She wasn't able to help him then, but she would help him now. After all the hell he's been through, it was unfair for him to have a chance to be invaded by The Black Mass.

She ran forward and tackled him with a hug. She began to cry like a baby into his chest. She couldn't help it; it was all so much. He hugged her tightly and rubbed circles on her back.

"It's okay, Maka.. everything is fine now. I'm just glad that you're alright.." He whispered to her. Everyone just stood there, not really sure what to do.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry.." She sobbed against the fabric of his shirt.

"What are you sorry for?" Crona asked gripping her tighter.

"C-c-can w-we talk a-alone?" She questioned.

Kid nodded his head in approval and nodded them away. Crona guided her out into the hallway and back to the dispensary. He shut the door behind himself and Maka and sat her down on the bed.

"I-I s-saw.." More tears gathered in her eyes. "I-I went into y-your s-soul and I-I s-saw.."

"Please don't cry, Maka.." Crona wiped them away with care pressed her body against his own. He kissed her forehead to calm her down. "Take your time. Just tell me when you're ready.."

She cried for a few more minutes until it finally toned down to sniffles. "I-I went into your soul and onto one of your islands.. and I saw a black door. Your shadow spoke to me..."

"W-what?"

"It asked why I wanted to see what was behind the door and it misjudged me; it said so itself.."

"W-what happened next?"

"I opened the door and I saw.. a memory.. something even you wanted to forget. They were locked away behind that black door, but you couldn't throw away the key, could you?"

"I.."

"It was in an insane asylum.."

His eyes widened in horror as he recalled the events hazily. He tensed and it was his turn to cry. "I.. I.."

Maka grabbed his face with both of her hands in looked him in his shaky eyes. "It's okay.. it's okay.. you said so yourself.. everything is fine.. that was in the past.."

"How can you..." He began to cry even more. ".. be so forgiving of me, Maka?" Crona looked at her with big watery pale-blue eyes.

"Because I want to help you like you helped me.. I love you, Crona." She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against his.

"M-Maka.." He hugged her tight; he thought she'd just disappear if he let go. "I love you more than anything.. I-I don't want to loose you! You're all I have left!"

"I'm not going anywhere. I will help you. I will stay by your side forever. No matter what! I promise!"

"M-Maka..? W-what else did you see?"

Maka froze and she closed her eyes. "I saw the memory of when you.. killed.. Medusa.."

Crona hugged her impossibly tighter, but she didn't mind. She ran her fingers through his lengthy hair.

"I-I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have went in.. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.." Maka cried again as she placed kisses all over his face. "I should have listened to your shadow, but I didn't.. I have no excuse.. I-"

"Maka.. it's okay. I promise it is." Crona smiled halfheartedly as she continued to kiss his face.

"It's not okay.." She murmured in between kisses.

"Maka.." He gasped as Maka kissed him on the lips. He ran his tongue over her lips and she allowed him access. Crona missed her so much. He hated it and he felt helpless when she was hurt. Their tongues danced and maneuvered with each other in a prefect and steady rhythm. Was he in heaven? No. He was kissing Maka. It was definitely heaven to him though. Her mouth was so warm and wet.. it was like he was getting drunk. But not a bad drunk like last time. It was pleasurable this time.

The dispensary door swung open. "You guys done y-" Soul stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the two meisters. "What the _hell_?"

Maka detached herself from Crona and looked Soul right in the eye. "What?" She asked him.

"What is going on in here!?"

"What does it look like?"

"But- … What!?"

"Why are you so mad about this? Are you really that surprised? If you're mad at me for this then you're a hypocrite."

Soul pointed a finger at her and opened his mouth to say something again, but Maka cut him off once more. "I've known about you and Jacqueline for awhile now. How come you never told me? We're supposed to be partners, after all?"

"I-"

"Didn't want to lose me as your partner? If you told me, then maybe we could have worked this all out! Did you think I'd be mad at you!?"

"I-I thought that you liked me?"

"I don't like you like that, Soul! Are you out of your goddamned mind!? You knew how I felt about Crona more than anyone, especially after-" Her voice broke and she let a few tears slide down her face once more. "I can't believe you, Soul!"

"Why didn't you tell me when you found out and when you hooked up with Mr. Demon Sword!?"

"Because of your snarky fucking comments like that! Can't you take anything seriously!? You would've been irrational! You wouldn't have accepted the fact that I do love him and there's nothing you can do to change that!" Maka yelled at him.

"You don't know what love is, Maka!"

"No, Soul. _You _don't know what love is! I didn't want to believe in love after what happened to my mother.. I thought for a long time that all men were all good-for-nothings who did nothing but cheat on their partners and hurt them! I have someone who is the complete opposite of that so why can't you accept that!? You love Jacqueline and she loves you, so why can't you just let me love!? You're not my father! I am NOT a little kid!"

"I'm sorry Maka.. I just.. it's just that you were my meister first and you're one of my best friends.."

"I will always be one of your best friends, but I only love you like a brother, remember that."

Maka grabbed Crona's hand and pulled him off the bed and whisked him out of the dispensary and into the hallway.

She couldn't help but to sigh with dread when she realized that she didn't know what wonderful thing was going to happen next. _This sucks. _Maka thought. She pretty much summed it all all in two words. _At least Crona is with me. I will always be by his said. Forever and always. I promised him. I keep my promises. _

* * *

_"Break her."_ The Black Mass told his minion. _"You know the plan."_

"You can have her sanity and soul and I get her body. Of course I know the plan!" A sleazy old man in ragged clothes told his master. "Of course, I'll have to be careful of the overprotective swordsman and over sized butterknife.. and I almost got her last time on New Year's Eve, but the little bitch can run in heels.."

_"Just get the fuckin' job done."_

"Sir, yes, sir!"

_"Indeed.. break her sanity even more."_


End file.
